Euronews, By Greta Ruffino, Published on
Trump used a primetime address to the nation on Thursday to double down on claims of voter fraud and interference, assertions he has previously used to deny his loss in the 2020 election.“America is back and doing really well, but we still have a major challenge that must be urgently addressed, because no country can be great without fair and honest elections,” Trump said during the address. Trump also said he would release classified documents that showed that China had illicitly acquired 220 million US voter files, which he said includes names, addresses, phone numbers, political party preferences and other data used to register to vote.
However, his renewed allegations contradict previous audits and reviews, including an assessment made by Trump's then-attorney general William Barr, that could not find any significant evidence of voter fraud in the 2020 election.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio travels to the Philippines next week to meet with his Southeast Asian counterparts, the State Department said on Friday. State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said the trip "advances a clear US priority: a free and open Indo-Pacific that delivers safety, security, and prosperity for the region and for the American people." The State Department provided no details of his schedule, but last year Rubio met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the ASEAN gathering. The two top diplomats spoke recently by telephone following Trump's visit to China last spring.