Timeline of Trump White House Actions and Statements on Artificial Intelligence

Since January 20, 2025, the second Trump administration has followed a distinct arc in its pursuit of “unquestioned and unchallenged global technological dominance.” The White House views artificial intelligence as essential to economic competitiveness and national security, and the success of American technology firms as vital to both.

Over the past year, the administration sought to advance American AI “supremacy” through deregulation and federal preemption of state rules; securing supply chains through critical minerals actions, industrial policy and international “prosperity” deals; and expanding AI infrastructure through accelerated data center permitting.

To help Tech Policy Press readers evaluate the administration’s approach, we collected the executive orders, proclamations, and official documents published on whitehouse.gov during the first year of the Trump administration and placed them on a timeline (see below). Significant moments include:

• January 2025: Immediate action to rescind Biden-era AI regulations, framing AI development as essential to American competitiveness and removing what the administration characterized as bureaucratic barriers to innovation.
• April 2025: Launch of AI education initiatives for American youth, alongside Section 232 actions on critical minerals to secure AI supply chains.
• July 2025: Release of comprehensive AI Action Plan, paired with executive orders to prevent “woke” AI, accelerate data center permitting and expand AI infrastructure.
• August-September 2025: First Lady Melania Trump launches Presidential AI Challenge and convenes AI Education Task Force; Technology Prosperity Deal signed with UK.
• October 2025: Expansion of Technology Prosperity Deals to Japan and Korea, alongside critical minerals frameworks with allied nations.
• November 2025: Launch of "Genesis Mission" applying AI to scientific discovery.
• December 2025: Announcement of a national AI policy framework that preempts most state-level AI regulations.
• January 2026: Publication of “Artificial Intelligence and the Great Divergence,” a report by the President’s Council of Economic Advisors that argues that the Trump administration’s AI policies will help the US take advantage of a potentially transformative economic shift comparable to the Industrial Revolution that could create a "Great Divergence" in growth between nations.

It’s important to note that this timeline does not capture AI-related actions, rulemakings, or guidance from executive branch agencies such as the State Department, Commerce Department, FTC, NIST, or others—nor does it reflect the broader pattern of governance that may be operating through less visible mechanisms. As Alondra Nelson argues in Science, the administration's approach represents "not the absence of AI regulation but its rearrangement," operating through industrial policy, trade restrictions, immigration controls, and strategic preemption rather than only traditional regulatory processes.

We hope to expand this timeline in future iterations to include agency-level actions and provide a more complete picture of the Trump administration's approach to AI governance. Click on the dropdown to see a sample of relevant Tech Policy Press coverage from each month.