Tech Explained: Timeline of Trump White House Actions and Statements on Artificial Intelligence in Simple Terms

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:

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.