President Donald Trump’s sweeping campaign to reshape how America’s elections are run — and to force states to hand over sensitive voter data — has repeatedly lost in the court of law. So on Thursday night, the president will again take his case to the court of public opinion.

Trump is scheduled to deliver a prime-time speech from the White House reviving his false claim that the 2020 election was stolen, according to administration officials, who told MS NOW that they expect him to allege election influence efforts by foreign adversaries, including China.

Thursday’s speech is about “personal vindication,” a person close to the White House told MS NOW. The 2020 election “keeps the president up at night.”

“He could care less about anything else,” said the person close to the White House, who was granted anonymity to describe internal deliberations. “Is this something Republicans need to be talking about four months before an election? Absolutely not.”

The challenges for the president are piling up. He has a record-low job approval rating, an escalating war with Iran that will soon enter its sixth month, gas prices are on the rise, economic dissatisfaction is widespread among the American public, and his immigration enforcement crackdown resulted in federal agents killing two people within a week. 

Against that backdrop, some Trump allies question the wisdom of the president focusing his message on relitigating the 2020 election.

“He created a base that wants the guillotine,” a former Trump administration official told MS NOW, given anonymity to address a sensitive topic. “His base cheered when they arrested James Comey for 86-47. That’s what he needs to keep his base activated and energized.”

Separately, the person close to the White House told MS NOW that the political calculus is misguided. “There is no one adviser, outside of maybe [acting Director of National Intelligence] Bill Pulte, that is telling the president, ‘Yes, this is the thing we should be focusing on,’” they said.

Asked about Republicans who’d prefer the president to focus his attention elsewhere, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told MS NOW that “as usual, anonymous sources are speculating,” adding “nobody knows yet what President Trump will ultimately say.”

Ultimately, Trump has faced defeat after defeat in his battle to expand his presidential power over the election process. Federal judges have ruled against the administration at least 21 times in cases involving elections and voter data, according to a review of the rulings by MS NOW. The judges were appointed by presidents of both parties, including at least six named by Trump.

Courts have blocked efforts to obtain unredacted voter rolls, halted new limits on mail ballots and stopped a program that screened voters against a federal database — a process that resulted in some citizens being purged from the rolls. Judges also blocked all three executive orders Trump has signed to overhaul election procedures, including a requirement that military and overseas voters produce documents proving citizenship and restrictions on mail-voting registration for people receiving public assistance.

The White House did not respond to questions about the administration’s court losses in their attempts to change election rules and obtain voter rolls. 

The losses have not slowed the president’s public campaign against the election system, mail voting and the local officials who run elections.

Beyond the courts, the administration has pressed states that have not complied with its proposed changes by threatening to withhold anti-terrorism funding, sending letters to election officials threatening criminal prosecution over noncitizen voting and dispatching election monitors. Federal officials have not ruled out sending federal immigration agents to polling places.