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Trump’s Truth Social MAGA crowd aren’t buying his spin on AI

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Cite

Sommerlad, J. (2026, September 16). Trump’s Truth Social MAGA crowd aren’t buying his spin on AI. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-ai-data-centers-maga-truth-social-b3051360.html

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

The Independent · collected 2026-09-16 · by Joe Sommerlad

Quick Summary

Donald Trump used his Truth Social platform to downplay concerns about artificial intelligence (AI), calling it an economic boon under strong presidential leadership, but faced unexpected backlash from parts of his base. Many users responded negatively, expressing fears that AI could harm jobs and society more broadly. A New York Times survey revealed Republican voters are nearly evenly split on data centers needed for AI development, with 49 percent opposed compared to 47 percent in favor.
Written by AI on 2026-09-16, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

President Trump dismissed growing concerns about the potential dangers of artificial intelligence (AI), asserting that there is no need for additional regulation or "guardrails" on AI development. In posts on social media and comments to reporters, he claimed that the United States already has a sufficient safeguard in his presidency, stating, “The only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT.” Trump also accused unnamed forces of exaggerating risks and engaging in a "SICK conspiracy" against AI companies. This stance contrasts with calls from leading scientists and tech CEOs like Dario Amodei from Anthropic and Sam Altman from OpenAI, who advocate for slowing down the pace of AI development due to safety concerns. The disagreement comes as Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to visit Washington on September 24 for an official summit where AI will be a key topic of discussion between the two nations.

Written for “Trump AI Rants Condemning Critics” on 2026-11-01, grounded in this article and the 40 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Trump AI Rants Condemning Critics
Politics · 41 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 6% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Artificial audacity Same event
Dawn
Hedges 5 of 27 claims Outlet record 72/100
The Straits Times
Hedges 1 of 18 claims Outlet record 66/100
Al Jazeera
Hedges 0 of 2 claims Outlet record 60/100
“Article A describes Trump's direct interruption of a live event to address AI concerns, while Article B discusses his attempts to quell fears on social media.”
CBS News
Hedges 0 of 4 claims Outlet record 66/100
The Independent
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 5 of 18 claims Outlet record 59/100
“The articles describe different instances of Trump's comments on AI — Article A covers his dismissal a week after sharing an AI image, while Article B discusses his subsequent posts attempting to quash fears from his base.”
Dawn
Hedges 1 of 22 claims Outlet record 72/100
“While both articles discuss President Trump's stance on AI, they describe different aspects of his involvement — Article A focuses on a specific claim about conspiracy against AI leaders, while Article B covers broader posts on Truth Social addressing concerns from the public.”
NBC News
Outlet record 60/100
“Article A describes Trump's downplaying of AI guardrails, while Article B discusses a reaction from his base to Trump's posts about AI on Truth Social.”
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 11 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different phases of Trump's stance on AI and his announcements, not a single specific incident.”
South China Morning Post
Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 64/100
“While both articles report on Trump's stance on AI and his comments about needing a strong president, they describe different instances of his posts or speeches. Article A focuses on an initial condemnation of conspiracy against AI, whereas Article B discusses a reaction to these statements from Trump's base.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
16
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
6%
1 of 16 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
59/100
The Independent's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
41
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-16 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Independent · 3466 article(s) · 8 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 8 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Joe Sommerlad
63 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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Also by Joe Sommerlad
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 63 articles by Joe Sommerlad →

Topics

Democrats MAGA New York Times U.S.A. the University of Massachusetts Amherst

Subjects

Trump PERSON · 6× Democrats NORP · 3× New York Times ORG · 2× U.S. GPE · 2× Donald Trump PERSON · 1× MAGA ORG · 1× Raymond La Raja PERSON · 1× Times ORG · 1× U.S.A. GPE · 1× the University of Massachusetts Amherst ORG · 1×

Narrative

The current alarm over AI began last week when Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon took to X to announce his resignation from the company and warned that those leading the sector were “racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives,” without taking sufficient precautions. Big Tech bosses Elon Musk, Sam Altman and Dario Amodei have since agreed that greater regulation, laboratory inspections and international cooperation is required to ensure control is maintained. Trump, however, has warned that the real danger lies in the U.S. opting to slow down the pace of development and allow China to lead the way and “win” dominance over the technology.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-16
🔮 Amid growing concerns about the technology’s potential being allowed to develop unchecked, Trump insisted on his platform: “AI, and Data Centers, will be the Greatest Economic Development Engine in History – Bigger than Oil, Gold, Diamonds, or even the Internet.”
2026-09-16 · The Independent
Trump’s Truth Social MAGA crowd aren’t buying his spin on AI · assertive framing

Claims (16 extracted, 1 hedged)

President Donald Trump’s Truth Social posting spree attempting to quash fears over the rise of artificial intelligence was met with a rare show of revolt from his base. asserted
spree → attempt → base
Amid growing concerns about the technology’s potential being allowed to develop unchecked, Trump insisted on his platform: “AI, and Data Centers, will be the Greatest Economic Development Engine in History – Bigger than Oil, Gold, Diamonds, or even the Internet.” asserted
AI → grow → Oil
“The only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!” he declared in another post. asserted
he → need → post
The president also warned against killing off “the Golden Goose” and alleged that only a “SICK conspiracy” of “Treasonists, Traitors, and Leakers” would attempt to hold back progress, calling the scare a “hoax.” asserted
conspiracy → warn → scare
As noted by a New York Times analysis, the response the president attracted on his own platform, which usually serves as a comforting MAGA echo chamber, was hostile. asserted
which → note → chamber
“AI is just NOT the way we need to go sir,” one person replied to Trump. asserted
person → need → Trump
“It’s hurting people more than I can actually say.” asserted
I → hurt → people
“I voted for you three times, but am very disappointed that you feel the need to shove AI and data centers down our throats,” said another. asserted
another → vote → throats
Others called AI “EVIL,” said they would never trust it and insisted it “must have safeguards” while one person even told Trump: “Build them data centers at Mar a Lago and you would see it’s just noise pollution and a horrible idea.” asserted
it → call → Lago
Responding to the rare show of dissent, political science professor Raymond La Raja of the University of Massachusetts Amherst told the newspaper: “It really doesn’t play well to his base because a lot of those folks are probably worried about AI taking their jobs. asserted
AI → respond → jobs
“If things start to unravel with AI and we start seeing major social disruptions, you’re going to see him do a quick reversal.” asserted
him → start → reversal
The Times also suggested that another reason for the hostility is that data centers – needed to meet the processing demands of an increasingly digital economy – are cropping up across the U.S. in rural areas, which are more likely to be home to Republican voters than Democrats. uncertain
which → suggest → Democrats
A New York Times/Siena University survey published Tuesday found Republicans sharply divided on data centers, with 49 percent in favor of their construction and 47 percent opposed, compared with three quarters of Democrats and 60 percent of independents registering their disapproval. asserted
quarters → publish → disapproval
Another poll, published by Politico Wednesday, found that 17 percent of Trump voters said that AI was “almost certain” to destroy humanity one day, another 17 percent said there was as “serious risk” of that scenario and another 20 percent a “moderate risk,” findings not dramatically different to the feelings expressed by Democrats. asserted
percent → publish → Democrats
A further 20 percent of Trump-aligned respondents said there was a “very small risk” of extinction at the hands of AI and only 9 percent said there was no risk at all. asserted
percent → align → AI
The current alarm over AI began last week when Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon took to X to announce his resignation from the company and warned that those leading the sector were “racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives,” without taking sufficient precautions. Big Tech bosses Elon Musk, Sam Altman and Dario Amodei have since agreed that greater regulation, laboratory inspections and international cooperation is required to ensure control is maintained. Trump, however, has warned that the real danger lies in the U.S. opting to slow down the pace of development and allow China to lead the way and “win” dominance over the technology. asserted
China → begin → technology
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