United States President Donald Trump has said no country can achieve greatness without free, fair and honest elections, renewing his criticism of the country’s electoral system during a primetime address from the White House.
Speaking on Thursday, Trump said the United States was making significant progress but argued that concerns over election integrity remained a major challenge requiring urgent attention.
“America is back and doing really well, but we still have a major challenge that must be urgently addressed, because no country can be great without fair and honest elections,” he said.
Trump also announced the release of previously classified documents relating to the 2020 presidential election and the 2018 midterm elections, claiming the records would provide more information about those contests.
The president insisted Americans should have confidence that elections are conducted without cheating or outside interference.
“All Americans should be assured that their elections are free of cheating and interference. Unfortunately, the system we have today falls catastrophically short of that standard,” he said.
He used the address to renew his call for Congress to approve stricter voter identification legislation, describing the proposed measures as essential to strengthening election integrity and restoring public trust in the electoral process.
According to Trump, the voter ID bill is “urgently needed” to address vulnerabilities in the election system and boost confidence in future polls.
Trump has repeatedly disputed the conduct of the 2020 presidential election, which he lost, despite multiple audits, court rulings and independent reviews finding no evidence of widespread voter fraud capable of changing the result. He has not questioned the legitimacy of the elections he won in 2016 and 2024.
