Live updates: Trump is expected to make election conspiracies a focus of his national address
President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, July 13, 2026, in Washington, as he signs executive orders. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Here’s what we’re following:President Donald Trump is set to address the nation on Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on topics he said will include elections and voting machines, suggesting he could revisit long-debunked conspiracy theories about his 2020 defeat to Democrat Joe Biden. The speech comes as he’s escalated his calls for Republicans to pass tighter federal voting rules ahead of November’s midterm elections. At Trump’s last primetime presidential address in April, he said the U.S. would accomplish its Iran war objectives “very shortly.” But days of back-and-forth attacks by the U.S. and Iran across the Middle East and in the Strait of Hormuz have shredded the interim deal to pause the fighting. U.S. strikes intensified early Thursday against a widening set of targets, including a ship it accused of breaking its blockade on Iranian ports. Iran retaliated by firing on U.S. allies in the region. Trump, meanwhile, wants Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to keep pulling over vehicles, signaling his opposition Wednesday to new plans to suspend most traffic stops after another string of fatal shootings. Three people died during encounters with ICE officers within a week, including motorists in Texas and Maine who were shot in their vehicles. It’s not clear whether ICE will quickly reverse course and resume most stops, which have been a key tool in Trump’s immigration crackdown.
