Live: Trump prime-time address expected to cover election denial claims

US President Donald Trump is set to give a prime-time national address about newly declassified intelligence on investigations into elections and voting machine vulnerabilities. The Republican president could ‌use his televised speech to again press his false claim that he lost his 2020 re-election bid to Democrat Joe Biden due to "massive fraud".Follow live.Fri 17 Jul 2026 at 10:10amFri 17 Jul 2026 at 10:10amWhy is Trump talking about the 2020 election?It may have been six years ago, but experts say US President Donald Trump's relentless focus on the 2020 election isn't about looking back.(Reuters: Evelyn Hockstein)It's a strategy aimed at justifying new voting restrictions such as the SAVE Act, reinforcing party loyalty ⁠and energising supporters ahead of November elections that will determine control of Congress, according to two White House officials and two people familiar with the matter who spoke to Reuters in May.By casting the 2020 election as illegitimate, he is also laying the ​groundwork to challenge Republican losses and undermine Democrats if they win back power, multiple election experts said."He's not looking back; this is about the midterms," said Alexandra Chandler, an election expert at the nonpartisan advocacy organisation, Protect Democracy."He's trying to create a ​fog of disinformation with this."So then if he dials it up further with federal interference, the public will not react as surprised."– with ReutersFri 17 Jul 2026 at 10:01amFri 17 Jul 2026 at 10:01amPublic should question the 'means and motives'So, voting integrity. That old chestnut.US President Donald Trump has for years tried (and failed) to produce any evidence that a meaningful amount of election interference occurred in 2020 to influence Joe Biden's win.Dozens of lawsuits have collapsed, and even Republican-led audits have ruled out claims that interference took place. Trump supporters outside a vote-counting place in Atlanta, Georgia in 2020. (Reuters: Dustin Chambers)As two elections experts have written this year for New York University's Brennan Center for Justice, modern elections are proven to be secure and accurate."Any new claim from the federal government to the contrary should be met with extreme skepticism," Derek Tisler and Lawrence Norden wrote. "The public should question the means and motives of political appointees advancing these claims. "Putting forth manufactured or misleading intelligence to justify official actions should be considered an outrageous abuse of power. "And the public must strongly reject any efforts to use misleading claims to undermine future elections."Fri 17 Jul 2026 at 9:48amFri 17 Jul 2026 at 9:48amTrump will give a national address shortlyGood morning.US President Donald Trump says he has "really, really big news", and he's about to give a prime-time national address to tell the world.What's it about, you might be asking?While we don't know the specifics, whispers around the White House are that it will concern newly declassified intelligence on investigations into US elections and voting machine vulnerabilities."Our country has to shape up," the president told reporters on Tuesday."What we're going to be talking about … it doesn't get bigger. Because without free and fair elections, you don't have a country."We'll be discussing other things, too, but it's going to be a very big announcement."Trump's address is scheduled to begin at 11am AEST. Stay tuned and we'll bring you all the updates as they come to hand.