ISTANBUL

The Trump administration is preparing an executive order to instruct the Justice Department to take legal action against US states seeking to impose their own regulations on artificial intelligence.

According to a draft obtained by The Washington Post and confirmed by a person familiar with the matter, who requested anonymity, the initiative is expected to test the boundaries of presidential authority, potentially setting up a constitutional clash over federal limits.

The move comes after Senate Republicans in July blocked a White House bid to ban state-level AI rules, amid concerns about protecting Americans from potential AI risks, as reported by the Post on Thursday.

If approved, the order would intensify Trump’s push to bring states in line with his agenda in a second term. His administration has already taken states like California, New York, and Vermont – all under the control of Democrats, foils to Trump’s Republicans – to court over various laws.

The draft AI order would instruct the Justice Department to argue that state AI rules violate interstate commerce, a strategy that one expert, Travis Hall of the Center for Democracy and Technology, says is likely unconstitutional.

“This proposal is shocking in its disregard for the democratic processes of state governments in their work to address the real and documented harms arising from AI tools," he said.

The draft also goes against longstanding principles of US Republicans, who have long championed state control over what they painted as an often overbearing or even tyrannical federal government.

The draft order would set up a federal task force to review state AI laws and determine whether they restrict free speech. It would also direct the Commerce Secretary to cut off federal broadband funding to states found to have such measures.

On Tuesday, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that the US should adopt a single nationwide AI standard and proposed attaching it to the defense authorization bill that cleared the Senate last month.

“We MUST have one Federal Standard instead of a patchwork of 50 State Regulatory Regimes. If we don’t, then China will easily catch us in the AI race,” he said.