Trump's address may focus on the 2020 election. Here's what to know about foreign interference, voting security

By — Alex Min, PolitiFact Alex Min, PolitiFact By — Amy Sherman, PolitiFact Amy Sherman, PolitiFact Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trumps-address-may-focus-on-the-2020-election-heres-what-to-know-about-foreign-interference-voting-security Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Trump's address may focus on the 2020 election. Here's what to know about foreign interference, voting security Politics Jul 16, 2026 1:30 PM EDT This article originally appeared on PolitiFact . President Donald Trump is set to address the nation July 16 with an expected primetime focus on election integrity. Trump's comments and news reports show he will focus on the 2020 election that he lost. WATCH: Trump's intelligence nominee refuses to say who won 2020 election The administration has been cagey about offering further details, saying Americans will need to tune in. Trump alluded to the speech's topic July 14; when a reporter asked whether his remarks would be about "election machines' integrity," Trump said, "It will concern that subject." "Our country has to shape up," Trump said, adding, "it doesn't get bigger because without free and fair elections, you don't have a country." MS NOW , citing unnamed White House officials, had reported that Trump will talk about newly declassified intelligence reports about foreign nations' plans to interfere in the 2020 election. Trump has made unproven statements about elections and voting by mail for a decade . He has used those falsehoods to push for changing election laws and recently called on Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, a bill that would tighten voter registration and voter ID requirements. Educate your inbox Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else. Reports from intelligence experts show that the 2020 election was secure and foreign governments' attempts at interference did not affect voting. "Trump ran the (government) in 2020, services were led by his appointees, and there were many efforts to track foreign interference in 2020," wrote Renee DiResta, a Georgetown University expert on election rumors and influence operations. "Nothing major happened." DiResta told PolitiFact it is important to distinguish between efforts at foreign influence and impact. If the Trump administration releases a trove of materials, she advised voters to look beyond sensational headlines to see what the documents show. What is foreign influence and interference? Foreign influence is activity — such as misinformation on social media — by foreigners to sway voters and candidates, said Lawrence Norden, an elections expert at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. Foreign interference targets election infrastructure and hardware to change election outcomes. While there has been foreign influence in U.S. elections since 2016, there are no known instances of infiltration of election syste