MAGA and Silicon Valley Are Battling for Influence in the White House
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday aimed at blocking states from regulating AI — an idea that has received widespread criticism from members of his base.
Of course, this order did not come out of nowhere. MAGA Republicans and Silicon Valley leaders have been engaged in a battle to influence the White House on technology policy for some time. THE Washington Post reported Sunday.
Trump’s technical advisers appear to be winning.
Let’s rewind a few months: Over the summer, the Senate rejected a bill that would have imposed a 10-year moratorium on state AI laws. Then, when a draft version of the just-signed executive order was leaked last month, many Republicans, who traditionally support states’ rights, tried to block the president from moving forward with the executive order.
GOP members, including Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, criticized the idea, writing on
Conservative groups, members of Congress and governors have also reportedly contacted the White House to sound the alarm about the project.
THE Job spoke with more than a dozen people familiar with the administration’s AI policies and White House officials and concluded that the moment was emblematic of a broader struggle between Trump’s base, his technical advisers and the industry executives who used their money and influence to help him take office.
“It feels like millions of votes across the country have just been exchanged for thousands of [venture capitalist] and tech-rich votes in areas Republicans will never win,” one source said.
Compromises were made on the project to rally Republicans and silence critics. Job ” reported, and Trump ended up signing the order this week.
The tension between what Big Tech wants and the president’s populist supporters likely won’t disappear overnight. And like the The midterm elections are approaching and more and more fissures are appearing within Trump’s MAGA base.
