Among the numerous, interlocking theories that Donald Trump has claimed cost him the 2020 presidential election was the idea that some foreign power had interfered.
In July, almost six years after that election, Trump suddenly claimed that China had intervened in 2020.
President Donald J. Trump greets Ambassadors David Perdue and Xie Feng, Executive Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ma Zhaoxu and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi at Beijing Capital International Airport, China on Friday, May 15, 2025, before boarding Air Force One en route Washington, D.C. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)
President Donald J. Trump tours the Hall of Prayer of Good Harvest with President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China, Thursday, May 14, 2026, at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)
However, the president provided little detail and has rarely mentioned that supposedly scandalous allegation in the months since.
There doesn’t seem to be much more evidence that China or any other country decisively played a part in 2020 than there is for any other conspiracy theory, from the one about voting machines to claims about stuffed boxes of mail-in ballots to the debunked “2000 mules” claim.
None of Trump’s claims about such cheating have been substantiated, and all of those claims failed in court repeatedly in 220.
Will Trump once again make claims about foreign interference if his party loses in the midterm elections next month?
A couple of top Democrats are warning that he might.
An Early Warning
According to an NPR report on Thursday, the top Democrats on the Intelligence committees in the House and Senate are both warning that they believe Trump will claim that any loss his party suffers in this year’s election was the result of cheating, possibly through foreign meddling.
“We start with the premise that the president is going to do that,” Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, who may stand to take over the gavel of that committee if Democrats win the House.
He added that he remembers the events of January 6, 2021, and therefore has concluded that “we’re making the assumption that the president is not going to accept the results of what looks to be a very challenging election for him and his party.”
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, issued a similar warning to his House counterpart, adding that he believes Trump may claim foreign interference as part of the process.
The two ranking Democrats held a press briefing this week, where they told reporters they have told Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton and other leaders of the nation’s intelligence apparatus that they must be reachable by phone on and after Election Day, in case Trump claims foreign election interference.
Hines also said in the briefing that actions must be taken if Trump “decides to use allegations of foreign interference as an excuse to seize ballot boxes, question the validity of the election.”
He also laid out a scenario in which Trump could claim, on election day, that Iran is interfering in the election, and therefore Hines could claim that he had received no briefing alleging any such thing.
Who Could Intervene?
When countries attempt to interfere in American elections, it’s typically on a small scale and usually comes from Russia, China, or Iran.
But Himes said in the briefing that there is a “profound distinction” between those things and actions such as “messing around with the voting rolls, with the machines.”
The latter, the House Intelligence ranking member said, has never happened, and “as of now, we are not seeing either the capability or the intent to interfere.”
Democratic state attorneys general have also said they’re putting together plans to deal with interference claims.
According to The Guardian, a group of 24 state attorneys general, along with “about a dozen Democratic secretaries of state and several civic groups,” has been coordinating plans that include everything from Zoom calls to “in-person tabletop exercises.” Nick Brown, Washington’s state attorney general, has been leading those calls, the Guardian reported.
And according to the Washington Post, a small group of national security officials has been “discreetly advising” members of Congress and state lawmakers on “how to prepare for the possibility that the Trump administration will attempt to interfere in November’s midterm elections.”
The White House’s View
Per the NPR story, Trump answered the question similarly to how he typically has in the past. When asked if he plans to accept the results of the election, he answered, “What do you think? Of course I will, but we don’t want cheating.”
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has written thousands of articles on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
