Last week, I explored Donald Trump’s ambition to make America the global leader in AI, along with his troubling comments about annexing Greenland and Canada. Trump’s territorial threats are now so frequent that everyone is asking: What is his endgame? The answer, I think, is closely tied to how AI is reshaping Trump’s vision for America—and the world.
Trump’s Leadership: From 1.0 to 2.0
Philosophically, Trump 1.0 was a nationalist who railed against globalization, imposed tariffs, and focused on building walls—both literal and figurative. Trump 2.0, by contrast, is charting a different course. The once inward-looking Trump is now throwing himself into geopolitics, with AI as a central theme.
On Day Two of this presidency, Trump announced a $500 billion AI data center. Two days later, at Davos, he declared America the “world capital” for AI. This one-two AI punch likely impressed the Davos crowd—until Trump taunted Canada, demanded NATO members contribute 5% of GDP, and ordered Saudi Arabia to drop oil prices.
Of course, Trump has never been above insulting or humiliating his opponents, but these were not just erratic outbursts. This aggressive posturing signals a shift from Trump 1.0’s focus on protecting America’s borders to Trump 2.0’s ambition to expand its influence globally—and AI is key to this.
For Trump 2.0, AI is more than an innovative technology; it’s a unique opportunity to “Make America Great Again” in ways Trump 1.0 barely could have imagined.
AI at the Crossroads
The early version of ChatGPT, launched in November 2022, amused and amazed with its ability to answer questions, tell jokes, and write poems. However, it was far too unreliable to be commercially useful.
In the two years since, progress has been breathtaking. Today, the best chatbots not only converse like people, but also see and hear like us; they can interpret medical scans with expert precision, predict financial trends, and analyze huge volumes of data quickly and accurately. And now they are taking another step.
Imagine a chatbot that can take your credit card, go online, and buy you a pair of shoes. This seemingly simple task requires reasoning through multiple steps—finding a store, choosing the right pair, and ensuring the best size and price. Each step confronts the bot with new, real-world challenges to solve, mirroring human intelligence.
This kind of “reasoning AI” now exists, and AI firms are rapidly improving it. Making each version better requires a massive increase in computing power, which in turn costs money. And that is why the Stargate project is so significant. The $500 billion price tag is not just about money. It signals investors’ confidence that Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is within reach and their willingness to provide industry with the resources needed to achieve it.
As a result, many experts now think AGI will arrive during the life of the Trump government. Beyond buying shoes, AI agents could soon be managing supply chains, optimizing military strategies, or navigating international trade negotiations.
The lesson is clear: AI is a massively disruptive force that is poised to transform the global economy—and in Trump’s view, also geopolitics.
American Leadership in the Age of AI
Trump may know little about AI, but as a politician, he understands that this is a unique opportunity for an American president to achieve great things. Leading the global transition to the Age of AI is a bold start, but what kind of leadership does the world need? Most experts agree that this process should build on the cooperative, rules-based order already in place. Rallying global markets around this new and transformative technology requires negotiation, goodwill, and geopolitical stability.
However, Trump is charting a very different course. His approach is to transform “America First” from a domestic policy into a principle of international statecraft. His aim, apparently, is to shape the AI era around America’s interests, which he views as both economic and geographic.
Observers outside the US are alarmed. Treating allies like Canada and Denmark as a vassal risks undermining the alliances that have maintained global stability for 75 years. This, in turn, jeopardizes the stability, cooperation, and support that America needs to lead the world through the AI transition.
Yet, Trump presses ahead, taunting multiple countries, and looking for ways to bring them under his control. So far, his key tool has been tariffs, but there is another shoe to drop. At some point, Trump likely will invoke access to American AI as an even more powerful lever. At a moment when the West needs stability, this kind of Realpolitik is deeply troubling.
Ironically, Trump’s Silicon Valley allies—many of whom now serve in his administration—argue that America must win the AI arms race to prevent China from imposing autocratic rule. Given Trump’s behavior, this argument now sounds duplicitous at best.
It also raises an urgent question: If America’s leadership is not a force for democracy, why should the West favor it over China?
A new chapter in this debate may be in the offing. Two weeks ago, China announced a stunning AI breakthrough: DeepSeek r1. This AI model not only matches Silicon Valley’s best AI but was hundreds of times cheaper to produce. American AI stock prices plunged at the news and Silicon Valley has been thrown into turmoil.
Others around the world see things differently. They are wondering whether, at this critical moment, international competition might be a better, safer path forward for everyone.
More on this next week.
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.