Make America Think Again — Five CEO Key Lessons from Trump’s Report “Winning The Race”

Visual 1: “Mount Rushmore with Trump slightly larger, on the side.” Source: MindLi

You can read the latest (July 2025) report, “Winning the Race AMERICA’S AI ACTION PLAN,” from two perspectives [1]:

  • You can read it to understand how the Trump team is thinking—its logic, tone, strategy, and priorities—not our focus.
  • You can read it as a CEOneeding to think broadly and deeply about the many aspects of AI. (We estimate 25 of the 40 key ideas are directly relevant to business leadership.)—our focus.

I want to encourage you to review the report and “use” it as a high-end strategic consultant. So let me share a few key ideas, and then end with a surprise gift (🎁).

The Report

The White House unveiled America’s AI Action Plan—a strategic roadmap to strengthen U.S. leadership in AI through innovation, infrastructure, and global influence. It emphasizes:

  1. Pillar 1: Innovation
    Accelerate AI development across sectors by reducing regulatory barriers, encouraging competition, and avoiding overregulation that could stifle progress. (15 key ideas)
  2. Pillar 2: Infrastructure
    Rapidly expand AI infrastructure—data centers, energy systems, and chip fabs—by streamlining approvals and rejecting policies seen as regulatory overreach. (8 key ideas)
  3. Pillar 3: Global Leadership
    Promote U.S. AI standards, models, and semiconductors abroad to shape international norms and align allies with American technology. (7 key ideas)

The List of Key Ideas

Pillar 1: Accelerate AI Innovation

  1. Remove Red Tape and Onerous Regulation
  2. Ensure that Frontier AI Protects Free Speech and American Values
  3. Encourage Open-Source and Open-Weight AI
  4. Enable AI Adoption
  5. Empower American Workers in the Age of AI
  6. Support Next-Generation Manufacturing
  7. Invest in AI-Enabled Science
  8. Build World-Class Scientific Datasets
  9. Advance the Science of AI
  10. Invest in AI Interpretability, Control, and Robustness Breakthroughs
  11. Build an AI Evaluations Ecosystem
  12. Accelerate AI Adoption in Government
  13. Drive Adoption of AI within the Department of Defense
  14. Protect Commercial and Government AI Innovations
  15. Combat Synthetic Media in the Legal System

Pillar 2: Build American AI Infrastructure

  1. Create Streamlined Permitting for Data Centers, Semiconductor Manufacturing Facilities, and Energy Infrastructure while Guaranteeing Security
  2. Develop a Grid to Match the Pace of AI Innovation
  3. Restore American Semiconductor Manufacturing
  4. Build High-Security Data Centers for Military and Intelligence Community Usage
  5. Train a Skilled Workforce for AI Infrastructure
  6. Bolster Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity
  7. Promote Secure-By-Design AI Technologies and Applications
  8. Promote Mature Federal Capacity for AI Incident Response

Pillar 3: Lead in International AI Diplomacy and Security

  1. Export American AI to Allies and Partners.
  2. Counter Chinese Influence in International Governance Bodies
  3. Strengthen AI Compute Export Control Enforcement
  4. Plug Loopholes in Existing Semiconductor Manufacturing Export Controls
  5. Align Protection Measures Globally
  6. Ensure that the U.S. Government is at the Forefront of Evaluating National Security Risks in Frontier Models
  7. Invest in Biosecurity

Sample Five Key Ideas Translated to  CEO Thinking

  1. Support Next-Generation Manufacturing

Whatever your service or product is, ask yourself who your key suppliers are, what their level of AI is, and whether they will survive the AI age.

  1. Drive Adoption of AI within the Department of Defense

Ensure the most vital department of your organization uses AI. The impact will be greatest there.

  1. Bolster Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity

Cyber remains essential. The more digital we become, the more cybersecurity matters. AI enables fake identities, and CAPTCHA is no longer effective—this is just the beginning.

  1. Invest in AI Interpretability, Control, and Robustness Breakthroughs

Look carefully not only at efficiency in actions, but also at how AI can transform your products and services.

  1. Plug Loopholes in Existing Semiconductor Manufacturing Export Controls

Look for places where external energy can solve an internal problem. Not everything can or should be developed internally.

Gift?

Oh, want to talk to President Trump about AI? try
“Ask Trump About AI – unofficial” https://chatgpt.com/share/688a3856-4378-800a-a8a6-71fa072f0295

More Information