{"id":3569,"date":"2026-07-22T07:51:04","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T07:51:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/?p=3569"},"modified":"2026-07-22T07:51:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T07:51:04","slug":"trump-downplays-chinas-election-meddling-we-do-things-to-them-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/?p=3569","title":{"rendered":"Trump downplays China&#8217;s election meddling. &#8216;We do things to them, too&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">WASHINGTON \u2013\u00a0President Donald Trump\u00a0on July 21 downplayed China&#8217;s meddling in United States elections \u2012 suggesting the U.S. does similar things to them \u2012 just five days after\u00a0he accused Beijing of executing\u00a0&#8220;the largest compromise of election data in history&#8221;\u00a0in a primetime address to the nation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Trump, responding to a reporter&#8217;s question about potential consequences for China, said he plans to talk to Chinese leaders about the intelligence on China&#8217;s election interference. Yet he quickly added that he believes China has changed since the 2020 election, while also referencing U.S. actions targeting the country.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Well, we&#8217;ll talk to them about it. It took place a long time ago,&#8221; Trump said from the Oval Office. &#8220;I think China&#8217;s maybe a little bit different today than it was then. But look, they do things. And we do things to them. I&#8217;ll be honest. We do things to them, too. It&#8217;s not a one-way street. But we&#8217;ll be talking to them.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"max-md:faux-bleed mb-4 bg-accent\/2 pb-5 md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"py-2 text-center text-xs uppercase\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Trump did not elaborate on what he meant by the U.S. also does &#8220;things to them.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"mb-4\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>More:\u00a0<\/strong>Raising old grievances, Trump says US elections like a &#8216;third-world country&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Citing\u00a0a trove of declassified intelligence documents, Trump in his July 16 speech said China tried to undermine the 2020 election by compromising voter data, accusing the country of\u00a0stealing 220 million voter files\u00a0from states across the country. He said China also tried to influence the results of the 2018 midterm elections.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"rounded-lg\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/lo\/mysterio\/api\/00f07c47c0ced78f0e0f3db519907f6551f50e53c7b682bb14f46d5a1d25c1c0\/lightyear_networkapi\/resizefill_w960;quality_80;format_webp\/https:%2F%2Fmedia.zenfs.com%2Fen%2Fusa_today_news_641%2F1cf90edbb5f0199c0a1845c1dc502fd5\" alt=\"U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun (not pictured) in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 21, 2026. REUTERS\/Evelyn Hockstein\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" data-nimg=\"1\" \/><button class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" aria-label=\"View larger image\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\" data-rapid_p=\"12\" data-y-link-id=\"03qyb6018lrea6115c1o\" data-v9y=\"1\"><\/button><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<div>U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun (not pictured) in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 21, 2026. REUTERS\/Evelyn Hockstein<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In addition to accessing voter files, Trump said China sought to influence U.S. business leaders to &#8220;turn against&#8221; Trump, who was then in his first term as president, and paid journalists to report negatively about him.<\/p>\n<div class=\"max-md:faux-bleed mb-4 bg-accent\/2 pb-5 md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;The Chinese government wanted (the) U.S. president to lose the next election, and the reason they wanted me to lose is because they knew I was wise to them,&#8221; Trump said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Trump accused the &#8220;deep state&#8221; within the U.S. government of trying to conceal China&#8217;s election interference from him, telling Americans that &#8220;those responsible for sounding the alarm instead kept the information secret and hidden.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>More:\u00a0<\/strong>Trump Chinese election meddling statement faces skepticism. Here&#8217;s why<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Trump used the speech to raise alarm about vulnerabilities in U.S. elections ahead of the November elections. Yet much of the information Trump discussed was cited in previous U.S. intelligence reports. And China&#8217;s acquisition of voter files \u2212 detailing the names, addresses and political party preferences \u2212 came from publicly available records.<\/p>\n<div class=\"max-md:faux-bleed mb-4 bg-accent\/2 pb-5 md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"py-2 text-center text-xs uppercase\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">During his first year back in the White House, Trump pushed the U.S. into a trade war with China before the two sides eventually backed off triple-digit tariffs on the other. Trump\u00a0visited China in May\u00a0to meet with President Jinping Xi, whom Trump has called a &#8220;friend&#8221; and a &#8220;great leader.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"mb-4\">\n<div id=\"recirc-f7554094-a548-3d6c-ab63-1be461918a66\" class=\"mb-4\">\n<div class=\"mb-3.5 flex items-center gap-2\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"grid gap-4 lg:grid-cols-2 lg:grid-rows-[auto_auto_1fr]\">\n<div class=\"relative w-full\">\n<div id=\"_r_4v_\" class=\"absolute inset-0 rounded-[4px] focus-within:ring-2 focus-within:ring-link trc_related_container tbl-trecs-container trc_spotlight_widget trc_elastic trc_elastic_stream-i-v3\" data-placement-name=\"taboola-article-center\">\n<div class=\"trc_rbox_container\">\n<div>\n<div id=\"trc_wrapper_9425944093\" class=\"trc_rbox stream-i-v3 trc-content-sponsored\">\n<div class=\"trc_clearer\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>More:\u00a0<\/strong>Trump overstates election weaknesses in primetime speech: 5 takeaways<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Previous intelligence assessments found China did not try to interfere with the 2020 election.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In March 2021, Avril Haines, director of national intelligence in the Biden administration, released a report that said the intelligence community had\u00a0&#8220;high confidence&#8221; China\u00a0did not try to interfere with the 2020 election but considered \u2012 though never deployed \u2012 an attempt to change the outcome.<\/p>\n<div class=\"max-md:faux-bleed mb-4 bg-accent\/2 pb-5 md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"py-2 text-center text-xs uppercase\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In the end, China did not view either a Biden or Trump win as being advantageous enough to risk getting caught, according to the council&#8217;s March 2021 report on foreign threats in the election.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><em>Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><em>This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:\u00a0<\/em><em>Trump downplays China&#8217;s election meddling. &#8216;We do things to them, too&#8217;<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WASHINGTON \u2013\u00a0President Donald Trump\u00a0on July 21 downplayed China&#8217;s meddling in United States elections \u2012 suggesting the U.S. does<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":3570,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56,7,48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-china","category-news","category-us"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3569"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3571,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3569\/revisions\/3571"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}