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While chairing the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday, President Donald Trump accused China of “attempting to interfere in our upcoming 2018 election.” Trump, without presenting evidence for his accusation, said China does “not want me or us to win” because of his trade war with Beijing. China has committed substantial data theft, including the 2014 Office of Personnel Management hack of millions of U.S. government personnel records as well as economic espionage aimed at U.S. corporations. While there has yet been public evidence that China is interfering in U.S. elections, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats this week vaguely warned that China was “trying to exploit any divisions between federal and local levels on policy.” As well, Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton on Sunday said that prospective “Chinese meddling, Iranian meddling and North Korean meddling” was a present “concern” for the administration. U.S. government officials have yet to respond to The Daily Beast’s request for additional information about the alleged Chinese interference.
—Spencer Ackerman