United States President Donald Trump on Thursday revived sweeping and unsupported claims of voter fraud and Chinese meddling — firing a clear warning shot ahead of midterm elections that many expect him to dispute.

In a primetime White House address, Trump portrayed the US electoral system as dangerously exposed and urged lawmakers to adopt new restrictions on voting, despite scant appetite for the measures even within his own Republican Party.

“We can never watch a stolen election again,” Trump said, referring to his 2020 defeat by Democrat Joe Biden.

Trump said he was declassifying intelligence that showed, among other things, that China had illicitly acquired 220 million US voter files.

“Over a period of years, starting during the 2020 election cycle, the People’s Republic of China carried out what is believed to be the largest compromise of election data in history,” he said from the White House.

Trump also claimed that more than 250,000 non-US citizens were registered to vote in four states.

He then attacked US broadcasters that refused to interrupt programming to carry his speech live, naming ABC and NBC and baselessly implying they were involved in election-rigging attempts.

“They and others in the media are part of a plot,” Trump said. “Fraud like this should mean a revocation of their licenses.”

Trump’s claim that the 2020 election was “rigged” has never been substantiated. More than 60 lawsuits produced no ruling establishing fraud capable of changing the outcome, while recounts, audits and his own Justice Department found none.

After he reiterated the claims on Thursday, China responded by accusing him of “fabrications”.

“The relevant claims made by the US side are pure fabrications and malicious smears that have long since been proven to be groundless statements,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a press conference on Friday.

‘Unsupported’ claims

Trump had promised “big news” on election security, but analysts said much of the address repackaged old or unsupported material.

Rick Hasen, an election law expert at UCLA in California, called it the “same old unsupported, and surprisingly weak, claims of American election vulnerabilities”.

“It was a tired speech with recycled and debunked claims,” Hasen said. “I don’t think it changes anything with how American elections will be run.”

Trump devoted little time to issues voters appear more focused on, including the Iran war and the economy.

Democrats accused Trump of trying to undermine confidence ahead of November’s midterms, in which Republicans fear his unpopularity could cost them control of Congress.

Senate Democrat Dick Durbin called the speech “a dangerous attempt to resurrect disproven lies to undermine future elections before a single vote is cast”.

Former Trump White House lawyer Ty Cobb said the speech appeared intended to build a case for declaring an election emergency.

“I think tonight’s speech is intended to add to the predicate that he needs to declare an emergency at or about the time of the elections,” Cobb told PBS, adding that he believed immigration officers at polling places were a “virtual certainty”.

Trump has been pushing lawmakers to pass the SAVE America Act ahead of the midterms, but the measure has little appetite even in his own party.

The bill would require proof of citizenship to register to vote — already required under existing law in federal and state elections — and photo identification at polling places, while imposing new limits on mail-in ballots.

He has never accepted his 2020 defeat. Months after the election, he urged supporters to Washington before a mob stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Trump could face a third impeachment trial if Democrats seize control of the House of Representatives. He was impeached twice in his first term, including for alleged incitement of the January 6 attack.

His last major televised address to the nation came on April 1, when he gave his first full public justification of the Iran war more than a month after the US-Israeli military campaign began.