Trump's election interference claims, Red Sea threat and wildfire smoke
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Hi, I'm Mindy Burrows in London. It's Friday, July 17. Today. Trump goes primetime, alleging that China interfered in the 2020 election. Iran asks the Houthis to stand ready to shut down a second major oil route. And scientists say wildfire smoke carries health risks that can last for years.
What did Trump claim about Chinese interference in the 2020 election and when was his primetime address?
This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week.
Think of that, tens of millions of voters' data in 18 states have been bought, stolen or hacked by China.
President Donald Trump is declassifying intelligence that he says shows Chinese efforts to interfere in the 2020 US election, alleging Beijing acquired more than 200 million US voter files. In a 25-minute primetime address some major networks refused to air, Trump also claimed that, quote, deep state actors inside the government hid information from him during his first presidency, including that US voting machines are not secure and that non-citizen voting is widespread.
As one assessment states, we judge that the United States' adversaries, including at a minimum Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, as well as non-state groups, have the capability to compromise U.S. election infrastructure. That's unquote, but that's some statement, isn't it?
Trump's own intelligence agencies called the 2020 election the most secure in American history. He used his speech to push for the passage of his Save America bill, which would require voters to show photo ID and proof of citizenship before voting. Opponents of the bill fear it will disenfranchise a wide range of voters. White House reporter Bo Erickson says it's important to understand the context behind these allegations.
When we were talking to election experts, because there was a big team of Reuters reporters covering this speech, these experts told us that this kind of information that is in these voter files, this is already publicly available information, and actually a lot of U.S. campaigns use the same information. And our colleagues who cover national security really brought up an important point as well. And they noted that in intelligence reports right after the 2020 election, China or other hostile nations like Russia or Iran They were maybe trying to influence the election, but they never succeeded in doing anything that actually changed the outcome of the 2020 election. And I bring that up because this is actually something that President Trump did not say in his speech.
He never accused China of doing something that actually changed the result of the 2020 election.
Now, a crucial aspect of any presidential speech is the teleprompter. President Trump's longtime teleprompter operator is under federal investigation for alleged insider trading on the prediction market platform, Kalshi. Gabriel Perez allegedly used advanced knowledge of Trump's speeches to bet on what the president would say, racking up more than $90,000 in profits before the trades were flagged and his account frozen. Perez has been fired from the White House and the case is now with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Sources tell Reuters that Iran has asked Yemen's Houthis to stand ready to close the Red Sea oil route if the United States strikes Iranian power infrastructure. The threat comes just days after President Trump warned he would do exactly that.
With the Strait of Hormuz already shut, closing the Red Sea would mean both of the Middle East's main oil export routes would be blocked at the same time. Sources tell Reuters the Houthis have already deployed missiles and drones near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and are waiting for the order. Commodities and energy editor Simon Webb says the fallout would be noticeable.
Should the Houthis disrupt shipping through the Red Sea, it has the potential to severely exacerbate what is already the worst energy crisis. supply disruption in history in terms of the barrels per day that have been lost to the market. That's just oil and gas. In terms of what it means for container shipping, wherever you're moving around the world, it's going to take a lot longer.
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