Pool report #4

The pool was ushered into the oval a little before 6 pm. Lutnick, Bessent, Ted Cruz, David Sacks among others circled behind him.

The executive order, as described by the president, would prohibit states from enacting their own regulations for AI, which Sacks argued would create a "confusing patchwork of regulations" and that the president said would give an advantage to China, where Xi Jinping alone can set the rules.

Bessent said "This is pass/fail," and argued that that AI was the successor to other great American projects: Canals, highways, the Internet.

The Q& A touched on Venezuela, Iran (at surprising length), China's use of AI for national security threats, and what the president called "denuclearizaiton,'' but appeared to be arms control.

Highlights:

"When they need approvals or things they have to come to one source. They cant go to California, New York and various other places like Illinois, where Pritzker is a totally unreasonable person..."

Sacks: : "We have over 1000 bills going to state legislatures right now to regulate AI, over 100 of them have already passed.

Cruz: Noted Bill Clinton "putin into law a light touch regulatory approach to the Internet.."

"It's a race, and if China wins the race, whoever win, the values of that country will affect all of AI."

Bessent: AI will be "the biggest single source of economic growth. ..... "But as everything else we do with our defense, there's no use in having a Golden Dome if China's AI can get around it."

On Venezuela: "It's about a lot of things,'' and repeated his charges of emptying prisons into the US.

On Indiana, said he wanted to primary Republicans who voted against redistricting.

On AI, said he had spoken to Xi about AI, but avoided the question of whether he has talked about guardrails, building on Biden agreement not to use AI agents in nuclear weapons use decisions. "We talk about everything."

On Ukraine: agreed there were "four or five different parts, a little bit of complications, because you're cutting up land in a certain way." On weekend meetings, refused to commit to US attending.

Iran: Insisted the nuclear program was obliterated, even though his national security strategy was more cautious.

Said the "Atomic Energy Agency,'' (presumably Iran's AEO), "said it was Gonzo. "I'm sure they'll try and come back."

"It's going to take a long time."

"The nuclear is done."

For speed, I have attached an Otter link. It looks pretty good -- your pool was close to the desk -- but as with any transcript I would compare it to the audio before publishing any direct quotes.

https://otter.ai/u/qP7dJdwOSB9JzZBw5TFOsIII4Jw?utm_source=copy_url

David Sanger

New York Times

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David E. Sanger

White House and National Security Correspondent

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