WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Saturday, September 19, 2026, that he plans to create an “AI Force” and appoint a new artificial intelligence adviser known as an “AI czar,” according to a Truth Social post covered by Reuters, DW, and the New York Post — without spelling out how either initiative would be structured or funded.

“For this purpose, I am forming the AI Force, much like I did Space Force, which has been a tremendous SUCCESS, in my First Term,” Trump wrote, adding that he would announce the AI “Czar” “in the near future,” DW and the Post reported from the post.

What Trump promised

Trump cast the project as industry-friendly surveillance rather than a new regulatory regime. “We will not in any way hinder or stifle the Growth of this incredible Industry,” he wrote. “Rather, we will cherish it, help it, and watch over it, as it grows! However, we will also be looking for BAD, and we can do that, very easily, with our already existing Criminal and Civil Justice System,” Reuters quoted from the same post.

He again dismissed apocalyptic warnings about artificial superintelligence as a “hoax,” grouping them with political fights he has long labeled Democratic inventions, the Post and DW reported. Reuters noted that fears are growing among lawmakers about AI risks to humans and property, citing recent comments by former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon that people building AI “earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade.”

If Trump follows through, it would be his second AI czar. Venture capitalist David Sacks previously held the White House AI role before stepping down in the spring and moving into an external advisory position, Reuters reported. Sacks has echoed Trump’s skepticism of new federal AI rules, telling a Politico event this week that developers should be liable for product safety without a fresh regulatory stack.

The White House did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment on Saturday’s post.

China, trade, and the week ahead

The announcement lands ahead of Trump’s scheduled meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday, Reuters reported — with Washington and Beijing both treating AI leadership as an economic and military priority. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is set to meet Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng on Sunday at JPMorgan Chase headquarters in New York to discuss AI security, trade, and other economic issues, a person familiar with the planning told Reuters on Saturday.

Trump’s Saturday framing is clear enough: grow the industry, brand safety alarms as politics, and say existing criminal and civil law is enough to catch “BAD.” What he did not publish is a charter, a budget line, a statutory basis, or a name for the czar who would run the “Force.” Until those show up in writing, “AI Force” is a Truth Social slogan with a Space Force analogy — not yet an agency you can FOIA.

Sources