President Donald Trump is preparing to sign an executive order that would prevent states from regulating harmful uses of artificial intelligence, including the production of material exploiting children.
“We are beating ALL COUNTRIES at this point in the race, but that won’t last long if we are going to have 50 States, many of them bad actors, involved in RULES and the APPROVAL PROCESS,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Monday.
His administration has circulated a draft executive order that would push the Department of Justice to sue states with AI laws and direct the federal government to withhold a state’s grants for broadband if it’s regulating AI.
Even longtime Trump ally Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has expressed concern with deregulating AI.
If Trump’s order survives expected legal challenges, it would affect legislation currently in place in 48 states. To varying degrees, these laws regulate the creation and distribution of “deepfakes,” which often take the form of AI-generated imagery depicting sexual situations.
As Public Citizen notes, the majority of victims of deepfake technology are women and children.
“Intimate deepfakes cause serious harm to victims, who report experiencing significant emotional harm and trauma, as well as damage to their reputations and careers,” the group wrote.
Trump’s proposal is facing bipartisan blowback, including from longtime MAGA stalwarts like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“The problem is that Congress hasn’t proposed any coherent regulatory scheme but instead just wanted to block states from doing anything for 10 years, which would be an AI amnesty,” DeSantis wrote on X.
Similarly, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a former Trump stooge who has in recent months turned against the president, has voiced opposition to federal laws prohibiting AI regulation.
“States must retain the right to regulate and make laws on AI and anything else for the benefit of their state. Federalism must be preserved,” she wrote on X in November.
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Trump has argued in the past that AI should be allowed to grow and expand without regulation, despite increasing signs of negative societal impact—like suicide among children.
The deregulation push is being supported by tech companies and affiliated venture capital firms like Andreessen Horowitz, led by racist billionaire Marc Andreessen. During the 2024 election cycle, Andreessen joined in donating millions to help elect Trump, and now he’s reaping the dividends of his investment—even if children become targets.
Trump’s disregard for the downside of his proposed action echoes other harmful actions made by his administration, from the demonization of transgender children to the ongoing defense of Trump’s connections to Jeffrey Epstein.
Republicans have a long and sordid history with pedophilia, and now Trump is giving a digital boost to it all.
