As Team Canada discusses how to respond to President-Elect Trump’s threat of steep tariffs, they should also ask: How does Trump 2.0 differ from 1.0, if at all? Trump 2.0 is a work in progress, with most of the new ideas coming from Big Tech. This is creating pressure to expand the MAGA agenda, and it’s worth a closer look.
From Trump 1.0 to 2.0
Trump 1.0 focused on retrenchment. Globalization had decimated manufacturing and hollowed out the middle class. Trump’s promise to “Make America Great Again” was about reversing this trend:
- Build the Wall! Close the borders to illegal immigration.
- Drain the Swamp! Purge corrupt globalists in Washington.
- Put America First! Renegotiate trade deals and retreat from foreign entanglements.
In 2024, these themes persist—with some tweaks, like deporting “illegal aliens”—but the landscape has changed. Experts agree that artificial intelligence (AI) will bring economic and social disruption, likely on a scale far greater than globalization.
Silicon Valley’s leaders are watching closely and debating how best to proceed. For example, when Joe Biden imposed measures to manage the risks, strong libertarians resisted, claiming that industry should be free to innovate without government interference.
Trump seized the moment, promising to cancel Biden’s Executive Order and restore self-regulation. This remains Trump 2.0’s official vision for AI—but will it meet Silicon Valley’s needs?
An Evolving View of AI Governance
Not likely. While the Valley has long been home to AI libertarians, many CEOs are beginning to reckon with the scale of change AI will bring—and the need for more than markets to manage it.
Most in the Valley are convinced that AI is approaching a critical threshold: Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and that the impact will be without precedent.
Consider jobs: while today’s AI automates routine tasks, AGI will reshape entire professions, redefining who works and how. Or cybersecurity: AGI could render today’s encryption obsolete, forcing us to rethink how we protect everything from banking systems to nuclear codes.
The list goes on. AGI will supercharge scientific discovery, transform financial markets, and bring fully autonomous decision-making to military operations. Its impact will be broader and deeper than any previous technology, affecting how we play, learn, work, and govern ourselves.
Even Silicon Valley’s hard libertarians are starting to suggest that this level of disruption cannot be left to market forces alone. The shifts in the global economy and geopolitics are simply too large. As a result, Big Tech is warming to the idea of government leadership—not to stifle innovation, but to support it.
For Trump 2.0, this carries an important message: globalization cannot simply be abandoned or reversed. It must be transformed. If America wants to lead in the AI era, it must lead in defining AI’s place on the global stage—and that requires government.
Leveraging AI to Make America Great Again
Ideas for a more active AI agenda are already surfacing. Last week in this space, we reviewed the USCC’s proposal for an AI Manhattan Project to engage government, industry, and the military in developing AGI.
Now, there’s talk that Trump is considering appointing an AI Czar—a role that could align public and private resources to ensure U.S. leadership in this space. Other options are sure to follow as the debate progresses.
A consensus seems to be emerging that AI needs a strategy that aligns government, industry, the military, and potentially other players around common goals.
Still, some will wonder if this is more than talk. Is AGI as disruptive as claimed—and how soon will it arrive? Most tech leaders now take AGI as a given, and their timelines are growing shorter. Many expect it to arrive within five years.
Team Canada and the Trump Tariffs
So, how might these discussions impact Team Canada’s negotiations on tariffs? As the Trump administration grapples with AI’s implications for its America First agenda, Team Canada has an opportunity to help shape the conversation. While the immediate focus may be on tariffs, Team Canada must see the bigger picture: AGI is an opportunity to transform globalization, not simply reverse it.
Some Canadian officials are already inching in this direction. Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who attended the Mar-a-Lago dinner, reports exchanging views with American counterparts at the dinner table on how Canadian and U.S. officials are already collaborating on the use of surveillance cameras at the borders (Rosie Barton Live, December 1, 2024).
Conversations like these lay the groundwork for deeper cooperation. Ultimately, they will help convince Trump to see AI as a global issue. Perhaps he is inclined to resist this conclusion now, but seeking common ground on security, innovation, and governance will help. As a reliable partner, Team Canada will be increasingly well positioned to nudge the conversation toward the idea that AGI requires global standards and international alliances.
As a final note, Prime Minister Trudeau will host the annual G7 meeting in Kananaskis, Alberta, in June 2025. AI will be a key topic on the agenda, providing an excellent opportunity to advance some of these ideas—and perhaps establish a positive counterweight to the difficult discussions around tariffs.
Don Lenihan PhD is an expert in public engagement with a long-standing focus on how digital technologies are transforming societies, governments, and governance. This column appears weekly. To see earlier instalments in the series, click here.