Trump Postpones AI Executive Order Amid White House Rift

President Donald Trump announced on May 21 that the AI executive order was postponed after former AI czar David Sacks called the president and urged a change. The order, prepared for signing after table reads on May 20, would have created a voluntary pre-release review and a Treasury-led AI-cybersecurity clearinghouse.

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A draft circulated in February set AI-cybersecurity standards and tasked the NSA with benchmarking “covered frontier models.” Anthropic’s Mythos model, released in April, accelerated senior officials’ push to finalize the order.

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Three camps have formed: a deregulation camp led by David Sacks; an “AI hawk” camp of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Undersecretary Emil Michael pushing stricter barriers; and a middle-ground camp headed by Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent favoring a voluntary framework. National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross is mediating.

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The draft would let companies submit “covered frontier models” for a 90-day government review before release, create a Treasury-led clearinghouse for vulnerability patching, and bar any mandatory licensing.

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Without a formal vetting process, U.S. security agencies face heightened uncertainty, while officials argue a hands-off stance is needed to stay ahead of China.

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White House spokesperson Liz Huston said the administration is “committed to addressing the challenges posed by this emerging technology” and to “maintaining America’s lead in the global AI race.” A Treasury spokesperson stressed that “economic security is national security” and that the Treasury is working with industry on AI impacts. The Pentagon declined comment; Cairncross is seeking a compromise.

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Hegseth and Michael warn that a lax approach could enable adversarial exploitation, especially by China. Sacks and industry allies argue mandatory oversight would slow development and erode U.S. competitiveness.

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Some officials say the order is merely postponed; others indicate key sections may be removed, leaving its final shape uncertain. No revised draft has been released.

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The administration is weighing a 90-day review window, dropping the voluntary pre-release clause, or focusing on the Treasury-led clearinghouse. Further meetings with AI firms are planned before a revised proposal reaches the president.

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• “It wasn’t government telling these companies what they could and couldn’t do, but it requested that the U.S. government get a first look at any new models, just to be sure that they couldn’t be exploited by bad actors,” — First senior White House official

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• “This isn’t canceled, it’s postponed,” — First senior White House official

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• “Under President Trump’s leadership, America is winning the global AI race and leading the world in innovation,” — Liz Huston, White House spokesperson

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• “Thanks to President Trump, the United States remains at the forefront of both innovation and safety in artificial intelligence. Economic security is national security, and the United States Treasury is working with all of our counterparts across government, as well as with the financial services industry, to both address and harness the impacts of AI.” — Treasury Department spokesperson

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