Trump to deliver TV address amid speculation over elections announcement

US President Donald Trump will address the nation on Thursday at 9 p.m. ET in a live primetime televised address that has sparked widespread speculation about possible announcements on election security and the war with Iran.

Trump himself has fueled expectations, promising “really big news” without being specific. “It doesn’t get bigger, because without free and fair elections, you don’t have a country,” he told reporters at the White House on Tuesday.

The anticipation that he will focus on elections stems from his continued preoccupation with his 2020 election defeat to Joe Biden, which he continues to falsely claim was a result of voter fraud.

He recently installed a key ally, Bill Pulte, as acting director of national intelligence, despite Pulte having no previous intelligence experience. Pulte, who previously led the federal housing finance agency and used that position to seek evidence for retribution against Trump’s adversaries, is believed to have provided intelligence documents meant to validate Trump’s claims of possible interference in the 2020 election.

The president has also been clamoring for the passage of the Save America Act, legislation requiring strict voter ID, but it is currently stuck in Congress.

The speech also comes after Trump jettisoned last month’s vaunted ceasefire deal with Iran and resumed ordering military strikes in an effort to loosen the Tehran regime’s grip over the Strait of Hormuz, which has been largely closed to commercial shipping since the start of the war on February 28, causing global energy costs to soar.

White House officials have acknowledged that Trump may also address the topic, describing the speech as “a potpourri.”

Trump previously delivered a televised address on Iran on April 1, a month after the outbreak of the war. That speech was widely attacked by critics who seized on his threat to bomb Iran “back to the stone ages.”

Another speech shortly before last Christmas on the economy was criticized for an aggressive delivery style featuring Trump seemingly shouting and talking too fast.

Despite holding regular media briefings, Trump has delivered relatively few set-piece addresses from the White House – a strategy frequently used by past presidents to convey messages deemed of paramount national importance.

The setting involves reading a set text from a teleprompter for a limited period, constraints at odds with Trump’s speaking style, which often deviates from the written script and meanders at length.

Officials have indicated that Trump may give more televised speeches in the future. “We want to get into the rhythm of doing this,” an adviser told Axios. “It’s powerful when you give primetime speeches that give a sense of the importance to what he’s saying.”