Trump to give national address with election focus

President Donald Trump will home in on alleged threats to the integrity of U.S. elections in a primetime address to the nation set for Thursday at 9 p.m. ET.

It would hardly be his first time doing so. Trump has continuously claimed to be the victim of a “rigged” and “stolen” election since his loss to former President Joe Biden nearly six years earlier, and he has made similar claims about more recent contests that Republicans lost.

Trump’s decision to give his election claims the spotlight treatment coincides with multi-level efforts by the president and his allies to reshape U.S. elections ahead of the November midterms. Polls show Democrats are favored to retake the U.S. House amid Trump’s slumping popularity.

Trump is expected to repeat his false claims about the 2020 presidential results, while alleging foreign adversaries, including China, have engaged in election influence operations, administration officials told MS NOW.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that news outlets are “misreporting” what Trump’s speech will entail. But she hinted that Trump will make claims about U.S. election security.

“The president will be making a very important announcement with respect to the integrity of our elections,” she told reporters at the White House.

“We should have the safest and most secure elections in the history of the world. And what the president will be speaking about tonight will show you that perhaps that is not the case, and we need to make some adjustments moving forward,” she said.

Trump could also mention a “range” of other topics, including Iran and the economy, Leavitt noted.

Trump has kept mum on specifics about the speech, his first formal address since early April, when he claimed the Iran war — which is still going — was nearly over.

But he has repeatedly suggested his remarks Thursday night will focus on his gripes about U.S. elections and his plans to change them.

“It’s really, really big news, and our country has to shape up,” Trump said at the White House on Tuesday when asked about the speech. “Without free and fair elections, you don’t have a country.”

Asked in a Monday night interview on Newsmax for a preview of the address, Trump brought up last month’s Los Angeles mayoral primary election as what he saw as an example of a “rigged” race.

Trump had made baseless claims of mass ballot fraud in the race even before his preferred candidate, former reality TV star Spencer Pratt, officially lost.

“Our elections are crooked, and we’ve gotta straighten them out,” Trump told Newsmax.

The way to do that, Trump insists, is for Congress to pass the “SAVE America Act,” the controversial bill that purports to crack down on noncitizens meddling in U.S. elections by requiring photo identification to vote and proof of citizenship to…