Trump Softens Stance on China's Alleged Voter Data Theft, Why?
United States President Donald Trump has shown a drastic change in attitude regarding accusations of voter data hacking by China. Just five days after saying Beijing was responsible for the largest election data compromise in history, Trump is now downplaying the action and acknowledging that the United States does the same thing.
In a statement on Tuesday (21/7), Trump vaguely mentioned that the US would discuss the issue with Chinese officials. However, he gave no indication of any punishment or sanctions and claimed that the violation was already in the past.
‘It happened a long time ago. I think China is probably a little different today than it was then,’ Trump said.
This statement contrasts sharply with his keynote speech last week. He accused China of illegally obtaining 220 million US voter files dating back to 2020 and called the data loss an unprecedented election security nightmare.
Trump later stated that the alleged violations by China were no different from actions the US has taken against that country. He emphasised that there is reciprocal action in the world of intelligence and cyber.
‘They do something and we do something to them,’ he said. ‘Honestly, we do the same thing to them. It’s not a one-way street.’
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on Wednesday (22/7) that he did not discuss the topic of election interference with his Chinese counterpart while attending the ASEAN conference in the Philippines. Rubio preferred to focus on preparations for President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Washington next September.
‘We talked a lot about the September visit. The point is to build a foundation for another positive visit. I think President Xi will have a very positive visit,’ Rubio said.
Rubio added that although the two countries have major differences, as the world’s two largest economic powers, a cooperative relationship must be maintained. He also clarified that Trump’s speech last week regarding Chinese interference was actually a form of document declassification from the US intelligence community.
As of now, the White House has not provided an official response on whether Trump is considering further consequences for China, including the possibility of sanctions. Meanwhile, preparations for Xi Jinping’s state visit are reportedly continuing as planned.