Trump’s AI order puts him at odds with some Republicans

President Trump has opened a new front of tension within his own party by issuing an executive order aimed at curbing state-level regulation of artificial intelligence, a move that has unsettled Republican allies who favor strong states’ rights and tougher oversight of Big Tech.

The order mirrors a proposal that conservative critics of the tech industry helped defeat on Capitol Hill earlier this month, after Republican lawmakers balked at language that would have limited states’ ability to regulate AI. While Trump is seeking to avoid a direct clash with those lawmakers, his decision to act unilaterally has reignited a debate that deeply divides Republicans: how to balance rapid AI development with concerns about jobs, intellectual property, children’s safety, and federalism.

The White House argues that state-by-state regulation could choke off investment and innovation in a fast-moving industry the administration sees as central to U.S. economic and geopolitical strength. Trump has personally made that case to GOP lawmakers, warning that a patchwork of state rules would discourage companies from investing in the United States.

“We have the big investment coming, but if they had to get 50 different approvals from 50 different states, you can forget it because it’s impossible to do,” Trump said last week in the Oval Office, predicting trillions of dollars in future AI investment.

Under the executive order, Attorney General Pam Bondi is given broad authority to challenge state laws deemed “inconsistent” with the administration’s policy of allowing AI to develop with minimal interference in pursuit of U.S. “global AI dominance.” The order also threatens to restrict states’ access to federal broadband funding if they enact what the administration considers “onerous AI laws,” giving the directive real leverage despite its legal limits.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has emerged as a key intermediary between the White House and skeptical Republicans. Acknowledging the ideological tension, Thune framed the issue as a clash between federalism and the realities of interstate commerce.

“We’re all pretty much federalists, we believe in state rights. So you want to make sure the states have authority to be able to regulate within their borders but … when you have interstate commerce with something like AI … you kind of need some sort of a federal framework, and I think that’s what the president and his team were recognizing,” Thune told reporters Monday.

Thune said he has spoken directly with Trump and with Republican lawmakers who were among the strongest opponents of federal intervention, adding that he had “got them in a place where they’re comfortable.” Still, he acknowledged the conversations are ongoing.

Not all Republicans are reassured. Lawmakers who warn that unregulated AI could threaten American jobs, intellectual property, and children’s safety have bristled at what they see as an end-run around Congress, even as many stop short of openly criticizing Trump.

To blunt that criticism, Trump’s top AI adviser, David Sacks, has emphasized that the administration does not intend to interfere with state laws aimed at protecting children.

“Kid safety, we’re going to protect. We’re not pushing back on that,” Sacks said last week.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), a leading Republican voice on child safety and technology, has signaled she will closely monitor how the executive order is implemented. Her office said she is working on a federal framework that would align with Trump’s order while protecting “children, creators, consumers, and conservatives without stifling AI innovation.”

The executive order follows repeated failures by House Republicans to advance similar language through legislation. Efforts to add a moratorium on state AI regulation to the annual National Defense Authorization Act collapsed after GOP resistance, as did a separate attempt to include comparable provisions in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” passed through budget reconciliation earlier this year.

Thune has openly acknowledged the depth of the divide.

“That’s controversial,” he said earlier this month as lawmakers debated the defense bill. “The White House is working with senators and House members, for that matter, to try and come up with something that works but preserves states’ rights.”

Some of Trump’s most vocal critics on the issue come from within the MAGA movement itself. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) threatened earlier this year to oppose Trump-backed legislation if it stripped states of authority over AI.

“I will NOT vote for any bill that destroys states’ rights and lets AI run wild for the next 10 years. AI will replace jobs, especially in the press. This is not a left or right issue. It’s about humanity. I’ll go to the mat on this. If you kill federalism, I’m out,” Greene wrote on X in June.

Steve Bannon, Trump’s former political adviser, went further, arguing the executive order risks alienating the president’s core supporters.

“After two humiliating face plants on must-past legislation now we attempt an entirely unenforceable EO — tech bros doing upmost to turn POTUS MAGA base away from him while they line their pockets,” Bannon said in a statement.

Republican governors are also weighing in. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who challenged Trump in the 2024 GOP presidential primaries, argued that the order cannot legally strip states of their regulatory authority.

“First of all, an executive order can’t block states. You can preempt states under Article 1 powers through congressional legislation on certain issues, but you can’t do it through executive order,” DeSantis said Monday at Florida Atlantic University.

DeSantis added that, read broadly, Trump’s order actually encourages states to take “commonsense steps” to protect the public from AI risks, saying Florida’s approach would likely be consistent with the administration’s stated goals.

Not all Republicans share the skepticism. Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas) praised the order as “an important step to promote American leadership in AI,” reflecting a wing of the party that views rapid innovation as a strategic imperative.

For now, Trump’s executive order has not resolved the underlying dispute so much as postponed it. With Congress unable to agree on a legislative framework and states continuing to explore their own rules, the battle over who controls the future of AI regulation — Washington or the states — is far from settled.