Key events
Former Trump lawyer says president is looking for an excuse ‘to declare an emergency’ ahead of midterms
Ty Cobb, a lawyer who coordinated Donald Trump’s legal response, during his first term, to the special counsel investigation of his campaign’s ties to Russia, told PBS Newshour on Thursday that he fears that “tonight’s speech is intended to add to the predicate that he needs to declare an emergency at or about the time of the elections.”
Cobb, who has become a critic of the president, predicted that Trump will try “anything” to disrupt the midterm elections his party is widely expected to lose, opening the door to a third impeachment.
“Steve Bannon and Todd Blanche have suggested that there will be ICE agents at the polls, I think that that’s a virtual certainty, whether that will include the National Guard or not, we don’t know, but anything to intimidate minority voters, particularly immigrant voters,” Cobb said. He also suggested that the president is looking for an excuse “to try to seize voting machines as Trump wanted to do in 2020”.
“I think you will see him doing everything he can to try to prevent the peaceful transfer of power, the election of Democrats, and do whatever he can to remain in power and to keep his cronies in powers, so that he can continue doing what he thinks he’s allowed to do as president, which is anything he wants,” Cobb added.
Trump’s address follows another day of strikes he authorized against Iran.
US forces launched attacks for the sixth straight day Thursday, hitting targets near Tehran and striking a ship military officials accused of trying to break the US blockade. Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones at US allies in the region.
There’s speculation Trump will mention his ongoing joint war with Israel against Iran in his remarks later tonight. He has claimed to be close to a deal with Iran dozens of times since April. If it does come up in his address, watch how the president spins the conflict as it stretches into its 139th day with an earlier ceasefire in shambles, peace talks in limbo and gas prices ticking higher again.
To air or not to air? That is the question news networks are mulling before Trump’s address
While the president aims for wall-to-wall primetime coverage, some TV networks are playing it safe in an effort to avoid giving Trump airtime to spout more unproven or debunked conspiracy theories to the viewing public – at least for traditional TV viewers. Brian Stelter, CNN’s chief media analyst, reported that NBC and ABC plan to stream Trump’s address online, but won’t carry it live on TV.
In a statement Stelter shared from ABC, the network said its “Special Report team is fully prepared to break into network programming to deliver live updates and reporting should significant developments occur”.
As for NBC, network officials said they “plan to air a special report on the network following the remarks”.
Democrats pre-bunk Trump’s long-running election denials before his address
That includes Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, US senators from Georgia, and Angela Alsobrooks, US senator from Maryland.
Alsobrooks said the administration’s ongoing attacks against election workers and “illegal” raids on election offices are designed to prevent eligible US citizens from voting:
“Let’s let that sink in as we watch the false claims from this president, who, bless his heart, just cannot accept what all of the evidence has shown us: is that there is nothing improper that happened in 2020.”
Ossoff was more pointed in his remarks:
“Here’s what’s going to happen tonight: the world’s most famous sore loser will deliver a prime-time presidential sour grapes address to pursue his six-year-old grievances about the 2020 election, while his war in the Middle East spirals out of control and the cost of living continues to rise for Americans across the country.”
Ossoff’s fellow senator Warnock offered this statement on Trump’s speech:
“Donald Trump lost Georgia in 2020. That’s not my opinion, it’s a fact. The votes were counted, recounted, audited and litigated. He lost, he lost, he lost. But this really isn’t about 2020. It’s about 2026. He is trying to sow doubt on the integrity of our elections in Georgia so that he can create the pretext to interfere in 2026. This president is a liar, a cheater and a fraud. And he has shown us over and over again that staying in power matters more to him than anything else.”
Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, returned from maternity leave Thursday and teased the president’s upcoming address from the White House briefing room.
Fielding questions about the substance of the president’s televised address tonight – specifically, reports that Trump plans to unveil new claims of interference in the 2020 election, despite the lack of evidence of widespread fraud – Leavitt argued that the president remains focused on the results because “the media has refused to acknowledge that tens of millions of Americans share his concerns about the sanctity of our elections”.
She added that Trump’s forthcoming “findings will shock you”, urging viewers to tune in. “Everything he is saying will be backed by facts and by evidence that will be provided this evening,” she said.
Trump set to address nation tonight
Welcome to our liveblog with coverage of Donald Trump’s Thursday night address from the White House. The president is slated to begin his remarks at 9pm ET.
While there’s not a complete picture of what he will say, Trump and White House officials have indicated his remarks will include one of his favorite obsessions: his long-repeated claims, without evidence, that US elections were rigged against him by Democrats in 2020 when he lost to Joe Biden.
Trump hinted at the content of his comments from the Oval Office Tuesday, telling reporters: “It doesn’t get bigger, because without free and fair elections, you don’t have a country.”
“We’ll be discussing other things, too,” the president added, but declined to reveal more. “It’s going to be a very big announcement.”
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