'Cyber threat to democracy': Trump says Russia, Iran & China interfered in US polls

US President Donald Trump on Friday alleged that Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and non-state actors possess the capability to compromise America's election infrastructure.While addressing the nation on election integrity, Trump cited newly declassified intelligence assessments as he renewed criticism of electronic voting machines and ballot-counting systems.He said that the third set of documents released by his administration showed that US authorities had long been aware of vulnerabilities in the country's election infrastructure.‘Americans were misled on election security’President Donald Trump alleged that the newly declassified intelligence records expose longstanding vulnerabilities in the US election system and accused previous administrations of failing to disclose them to the public."Yet concealing China's meddling was only the beginning. The third set of documents we are releasing proves that for many years, Americans were blatantly lied to about the security of our election infrastructure, including electronic voting machines and ballot-counting systems. They are vulnerable, and they are easily compromised," Trump said.Also read: 'China stole data of 220m US voters': Trump blames Beijing as he releases files on 2020 pollsHe also cited a US Intelligence Community assessment, claiming that "US adversaries, including at a minimum Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea, as well as non-state groups, have the capability to compromise US election infrastructure."According to Trump, the intelligence assessment warned that centralised election-related databases -- including voter registration systems, electronic pollbooks and official election websites -- remain the weakest links in the country's election infrastructure and could be targeted to disrupt voting processes.Trump cites CIA report on VenezuelaTrump further claimed that the declassified records contain CIA intelligence alleging that Venezuela's Maduro government planned to digitally manipulate its 2020 presidential election."Today, we are releasing documents that show the CIA obtained reporting of a specific plot by the Maduro regime in Venezuela to do exactly that -- conspiring to digitally rig their own country's elections in 2020," he said.Describing the issue as "a cyber threat aimed at the very heart of our democracy," Trump said the administration had declassified intelligence reports covering the period from January 2020 to June 2026.Catch the latest world news and top headlines. Download the TOI App.