ATLANTA — President Donald Trump used a nationally televised address Thursday night to renew his push for stricter election security measures, calling on Congress to pass the Save America Act and raising concerns about election infrastructure, voting machines and mail-in voting.
“Congress must pass the Save America Act,” Trump said.
The president said Americans have been misled about the security of the nation’s election systems.
“For many years Americans were blatantly lied to about the security of our election infrastructure, including electronic voting machines and ballot counting systems, dishonest almost all,” Trump said.
Trump also announced the release of previously classified intelligence assessments that he said detail vulnerabilities in election systems and the potential for foreign interference.
“We’re publishing a series of previously classified U.S. intelligence community assessments, another report proving that our government has long known these machines are extremely exposed to attack,” Trump said.
He also claimed that U.S. voting files are in the hands of foreign governments.
“Hundreds of millions of U.S. voting files are in the hands of foreign governments. Our machines and ballot counting systems are exposed to hacking and manipulation and corruption,” Trump said.
The president called for additional election security measures, including voter identification requirements and proof of citizenship. He also renewed his calls for an end to mail-in voting, though that is not expressly outlined in the Save America Act.
Although many expected Trump to focus on Georgia and revisit his previous allegations involving the state’s 2020 election, he did not specifically mention Georgia during the address.
Kennesaw State University political scientist Dr. Kerwin Swint said the speech appeared to be centered on advancing the Save America Act.
“It’s something that the White House has made a priority this spring and summer. Trump is putting everything aside in order to pass this because he thinks that’s the only way his party can hold on to Congress for one thing, but he also truly believes, I think, that this is what America needs to adopt to have safe and secure elections,” Swint said.
Swint said the speech could ultimately prove significant if the declassified documents contain new information.
“It’s quite a development, it’s obviously something that President Trump and the White House has a lot of hope about. I think the devil is in the details, and if those documents have smoking guns attached to them it could make a difference, but that’s an open question right now,” Swint said.
He also said the president’s decision not to focus on Georgia may have been strategic.
“It’s not smart politics to keep going back six years ago and relitigating that, and maybe that’s why he didn’t go back to that well, he didn’t mention Georgia, he was focused on the national aspect,” Swint said.
Swint added that the long-term impact of the speech could depend on what happens next in Congress.
“If that were to happen, then we could look back and say yeah that speech was a major big deal. If it doesn’t happen and other shoes don’t drop, then it was just an effort to sway the election that didn’t pan out,” Swint said.
Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff criticized the president’s remarks, saying Trump is signaling plans to challenge elections in Georgia again.
“But he is signaling his plans to come right here to Georgia; attack the election and undermine voting rights,” Ossoff said.
Ossoff also said voters will have an opportunity to respond in the upcoming election.
“We have an opportunity this fall to deal a rebuke so decisive that no president will attempt abuses and corruption like this for centuries. That will be a great service to our republic,” Ossoff said.
Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock also responded, saying Trump remains focused on the 2020 election while Georgians are dealing with other issues.
“Georgia saved the country in 2021 and Donald Trump can’t get over it. His feelings are deeply hurt even though he won in 2024, and come November the American people are going to hold him accountable and his enablers in Congress,” Warnock said.
Warnock also criticized the president’s economic policies.
“Donald Trump doubled the premiums of some 1.2 million Georgians trying to afford healthcare, so Georgians are getting poorer and poorer, sicker and sicker,” Warnock said.
He also called on Republicans to speak out.
“They know that he is setting fire on our democracy and they are silent,” Warnock said.
Fulton County Commissioner Dana Barrett said she was surprised Georgia was not mentioned during the president’s address.
“And I was sort of bracing for a whole Georgia chapter of the speech,” Barrett said.
Barrett said she believed the speech contained a great deal of rhetoric but little substance.
“I feel like it turned out to be as good as a nothing burger,” Barrett said.
She also said she believes the president is building a case ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
“We are seeing the case being made by Donald Trump to interfere in the 2026 midterms,” Barrett said.
Barrett said she is also waiting to hear what comes from Friday’s Homeland Security briefing.
The Save America Act remains a top priority for the president, though even some Republican lawmakers have expressed doubt that the legislation has enough support to pass both chambers of Congress.
WSB Radio’s Ashley Simmons contributed to this story.