▶ Watch Video: Fact-checking Trump’s claims about election security during his primetime speech
CBS News fact-checked President Trump’s speech on election security Thursday night, in which he raised new allegations regarding China’s access to U.S. voter data. He revisited accusations about voter registration fraud in the U.S., exaggerated claims about dead and noncitizen voting and claimed voting machines are “easily compromised.” And he made other pronouncements about the state of voting in America.
Here are some of the claims and CBS News’ ratings and context for Mr. Trump’s statements:
Misleading: Trump claims China “carried out what is believed to be the largest compromise of election data in history” during 2020 election
“First, they show that over a period of years, starting during the 2020 election cycle, the People’s Republic of China carried out what is believed to be the largest compromise of election data in history.”
Details:
- It’s not clear how China accessed the voter data or what they did with it once they obtained it.
- All states make some voting information publicly available: Name, address, political party and more. North Carolina and Ohio, for example, post their voter file online for free. In some states, these lists are available for purchase by political campaigns and parties.
- A Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency/FBI bulletin from September 2020 found, “In reality, much U.S. voter information can be purchased or acquired through publicly available sources. While cyber actors have in recent years obtained voter registration information, the acquisition of this data did not impact the voting process or election results.”
- The bulletin continued, “The FBI and CISA have no information suggesting any cyberattack on U.S. election infrastructure has prevented an election from occurring, prevented a registered voter from casting a ballot, compromised the accuracy of voter registration information, or compromised the integrity of any ballots cast.”
By Gabrielle Ake
False: Trump claims U.S. election system “falls catastrophically short” of standard where “cheating and interference are not just difficult, but virtually impossible.”
“Every American deserves to know that when they cast their vote, that vote will be counted accurately in a system, and that is to make that system secure — one where cheating and interference are not just difficult, but virtually impossible. Unfortunately, the system we have today falls catastrophically short of that standard.”
Details:
- Officials have repeatedly said election infrastructure remains secure.
- The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, said there was “no evidence of any malicious activity” affecting the integrity of the 2024 elections. CISA also said the 2020 election was “the most secure in American history,” with no evidence that voting systems deleted, lost or compromised votes.
- Georgia and Pennsylvania conducted audits of the 2024 general election and officials in both states confirmed the accuracy of election results.
By Layla Ferris
Lacks evidence: Trump claims voting machines “vulnerable and they’re easily compromised, and people within our government knew that.”
“They’re vulnerable and they’re easily compromised, and people within our government knew that.”
Details:
- This claim likely refers to a document declassified by the government that mentions voting machines and Venezuela. The intelligence community found Venezuela was trying to operationalize a hypothetical vulnerability in a voting system used in that country. That system is not used in the U.S. and Smartmatic, the company that makes the Venezuelan machine, is not involved in any voting machines in the U.S., with the exception of Los Angeles County.
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Experts say voting machines in the U.S. are extremely difficult to compromise because they are closely monitored, they aren’t connected to the internet and they are backed up by paper ballots that can be audited to check the results by hand. “They’re under lock and key until they are publicly tested to make sure they haven’t been tampered with,” said Center for Election Innovation & Research Executive Director David Becker. “And then they are used and we still don’t trust them. We have those paper ballots.”
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Mr. Trump has also raised doubts about Dominion Voting Systems voting machines, which were used in 28 states in 2020, including the battleground states of Georgia and Wisconsin. In a 2022 review of Dominion Voting Systems by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, CISA found vulnerabilities that it said could be exploited to gain control over the system’s operations under very specific conditions.
- One vulnerability involves a scenario under which an individual would have to physically access the voting machines and be able to technically modify files before uploading them to the larger system. But CISA said it found no evidence these vulnerabilities have been exploited in any elections.
- There are physical vulnerabilities that exist where elections are held, according to a 2023 Brennan Center report, which found that state and local officials have called for more funding to bolster physical security at their offices. But while many stress tests have been conducted on voting machine technology to find any flaws, Trump’s claim that voting machines are “easily compromised” and that the government knew that, is not backed up by CISA’s assessment.
- “Security researchers do find real weaknesses embedded in the code and operations of U.S. voting systems, just like they do with power grids, banks, and telecommunications, all of which share the same ‘critical infrastructure’ designation as elections. Finding a flaw and fixing it is a sign of a mature system, not a sign it’s broken,” wrote Geoff Hale of the Center for Democracy & Technology.
By Aaron Navarro
Exaggerated: Trump claims “hundreds of thousands of noncitizens and dead people” are “active on the voter rolls”
“Hundreds of thousands of noncitizens and dead people are listed and active on the voter rolls.”
Details:
- Election experts say votes cast on behalf of “dead people” are extremely rare, and the numbers are unlikely to affect the outcome of an election.
- For instance, the North Carolina State Board of Elections announced in April that it had identified “34,000 deceased individuals” on the state’s voter rolls. But the board also said that this “does not necessarily indicate that illegal votes were cast in their names.”
- Under very specific circumstances, however, some states will count the vote of a person who has died. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 10 states count an absentee ballot cast by a voter who died before Election Day, and Connecticut will count a deceased voter’s ballot if the individual was a member of the armed services.
- Michigan and 11 other states explicitly prohibit counting the votes of deceased individuals, “even if the voter cast an absentee ballot and then died before Election Day,” according to Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.
- Colorado, Kansas and New York only allow counting a deceased individual’s vote if an investigation proves that the voter had cast a ballot and later died before Election Day.
- The phenomenon of noncitizens voting in U.S. elections is a rare occurrence and unlikely to change the outcome of an election. The Center for Election Innovation & Research concluded that noncitizens voting in U.S. elections “arise from misunderstandings, mischaracterizations, or outright fabrications” and once an investigation by an individual state’s secretary of state is concluded, “the number of alleged instances falls drastically.”
- Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate revealed in March 2025 that the state had estimated 2,186 noncitizens registered to vote. But after a statewide audit, the number dropped to “277 confirmed noncitizens.” Of those, only 35 voted in the 2024 election.
By Ibrahim Aksoy
False: Trump claims NBC, ABC, CNN didn’t cover his speech “because they know how corrupt our system is and they don’t want to reveal it.”
“In a rare move, NBC and ABC — fake news — have both said that they would not cover this speech. They knew what it was about. Because of the fact that they don’t like the topic because they know how corrupt our system is and they don’t want to reveal it.”
Details:
ABC News, NBC News and CNN said they would not carry President Trump’s speech on their primary broadcast channels, but will have the speech available on separate streaming platforms.
The speech was on streaming platforms ABC News Live and NBC News NOW. Reuters reported CNN would have a live feed on its website and subscription streaming channel, CNN All Access.
ABC News, NBC News and CNN all livestreamed Trump’s speech on their respective YouTube channels as well. Coverage of the speech also appeared on all three outlets’ websites.
By Layla Ferris
False: Trump claims mail-in ballots are “inherently corrupt”
“Mail-in ballots are inherently corrupt. So, you would have no mail-in ballots except for illness, disability, military deployment or travel. If you’re going away on business or vacation, these reforms are urgently needed to stop the vulnerabilities that I’ve mentioned.”
Details:
- There is no evidence of widespread mail-in ballot fraud or corruption in states where no-excuse absentee or universal vote-by-mail is offered. Multiple studies have shown that instances of voter fraud are very rare and not significant enough to impact the result of an election. The Brookings Institute found an “average total mail voting fraud percentage across the 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2022 general elections of only 0.000043%, or about four cases of mail voting fraud out of every 10 million mail votes.”
- The U.S. has a long history of mail-in ballots – their use started during the Civil War. The U.S. Postal Service processed 99.2 million ballots in the general election, beginning Sept. 1, 2024.
- The president has long tried to discredit mail-in ballots, and in 2020 campaigned against their use. He has continued his attack on mail-in ballots into 2026, calling for the allowance of absentee ballots only with excuses such as travel, illness or military service, through the SAVE America Act.
- The president himself used mail-in voting recently. Earlier this year, Mr. Trump used a mail-in ballot in a Florida special election. He explained, “I couldn’t be there, because I had a lot of different things.” But the president was in Palm Beach during one of the weekends when early voting was available. He stayed at his Mar-a-Lago club and golfed at Trump International over that weekend.
By Gabrielle Ake