Washington: President Donald Trump on Thursday unveiled the most sweeping election reform agenda of his second presidency, combining the release of declassified intelligence with a series of executive actions and a renewed push for legislation that would tighten voting rules ahead of next year’s US midterm elections.
In a rare prime-time address from the White House, Trump asserted that the United States faced an urgent election security crisis and outlined what he described as a comprehensive plan to restore confidence in the electoral system.
“No country can be great without fair and honest elections,” Trump said. “You have to trust your country because, if there can be no trust, there can be no greatness.”
The President announced the immediate release of intelligence and law enforcement records that he said revealed vulnerabilities in US election infrastructure and alleged foreign efforts to exploit them. He said the disclosures were intended “not to weaken confidence in election, but to earn that confidence by confronting vulnerabilities and correcting them very, very quickly.”
Beyond the document release, Trump outlined a series of steps his administration will take in the coming weeks.
He said he had directed the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Justice Department, the FBI and the CIA to investigate why intelligence relating to alleged election threats had been withheld and to determine whether disciplinary action or criminal charges were warranted against those involved.
Trump also said his administration had begun notifying governors, senators and members of Congress whose states were identified in the released records as potentially affected by election-related cyber vulnerabilities.
He announced that the Department of Homeland Security would work with state and local election officials to identify and patch known technical weaknesses in election systems before the 2026 midterm elections.
“We’re also committing to be working with those states and local jurisdictions to help them fix and patch known technical vulnerabilities before the midterm elections,” Trump said.
The President further said he had ordered DHS to notify every state about non-citizens identified on voter rolls and to direct election officials to remove ineligible registrations.
At the centre of Trump’s legislative agenda is what he called the SAVE America Act.
He urged Congress to approve the measure without delay, saying it would require all voters to present photo identification, provide proof of US citizenship and sharply limit mail voting to cases involving illness, disability, military deployment or travel.
“This landmark bill requires that all voters must show photo voter ID,” Trump said. “All voters must provide proof of citizenship.”
Trump argued that election security should unite Americans regardless of political affiliation.
“Every American, whether you’re a Republican, Democrat, independent or otherwise, should be able to agree that we deserve the most secure, honest, and fair election system anywhere in the world,” he said.
He added that election integrity “should not be a partisan issue” but “a cause to unite us, not to divide us.”
The President also used the address to criticise mail voting, lengthy vote counting and what he described as weaknesses in electronic election systems. He said his administration would continue working with federal, state and local officials to strengthen election infrastructure before voters return to the polls next year.
The speech marked Trump’s most comprehensive public statement on election policy since returning to office. While much of the address focused on allegations contained in newly declassified records, it also served as a blueprint for the administration’s election agenda, signalling that voting security, voter eligibility and election administration are likely to become central issues in the run-up to the 2026 congressional elections.
(IANS)
