President Donald Trump has caused numerous "crises" throughout his terms that could define his legacy, but according to a new analysis from The i Paper, a much more unlikely "looming crisis" could help define him as the "worst president ever."
"Having promised to solve Russia’s war on Ukraine on 'day one' of his presidency, Trump’s actions have only led to escalations from both sides of the conflict," columnist James Ball wrote in a piece for the outlet on Tuesday. "In the Middle East, Trump took more than a year to secure an uneasy ceasefire in Gaza, only to ignite the whole region with a fresh war against Iran, for which he seems to have no exit strategy. Meanwhile, Trump’s outright hostility to anything resembling green technology means the world is paralysed into inaction on the climate crisis."
He continued: "Trump’s failures in these areas, though, might not be what he is remembered for. Instead, it could be the handling of another looming crisis that defines his presidency: what did Trump do about the rise of artificial intelligence?"
Writing further, Ball noted that the potential emergence of "super-intelligent AI" and its threat to humanity have dominated recent headlines, with several companies calling for a possible slowdown in development. At the same time, public reactions to data centers have become toxic at a rapid rate, creating a rare bipartisan backlash.
Despite these worries, however, Trump has remained obstinate, insisting that AI must not be held back, and claiming that his leadership alone is enough to prevent any catastrophes. Trump was previously skeptical of the technology prior to his reelection, but according to the recent book, Regime Change, he was converted to a supporter after a single meeting where he was shown how ChatGPT could polish his social media posts.
"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!" Trump wrote in a recent post on Truth Social. "The only reason the AI/Data Center outburst is happening is because the United States is leading, by a lot, every other country."
He further called the backlash a "hoax... perpetrated by the Radical Left Dumocrats."
"Trump has, however, received substantial financial and political support from the tech industry – and his family’s financial interests are tied up with the sector, too," Ball explained. "More than that, Trump often judges his own success by the US stock market, which is now almost entirely propped up by the AI bubble. On some level, Trump seems aware that his own political fortunes are tied up with artificial intelligence. If there was an AI crash, it would cause a global recession on the scale of the 2008 financial crisis – and wipe out the one success story of his second term. Trump’s political legacy is already dependent on AI being a success, and working out for the best without any major consequences for society."
He later concluded: "Depending on who you believe, AI is either the most significant new technology since the internet, or since the industrial revolution. Even if concerns about its potential to end humanity are overblown, it will transform the nature of work, and could leave millions unemployed. Its environmental impacts are massive. And the trillions of dollars of high-risk AI investment could risk a global financial crisis. Trump is dealing with all of those potential problems by ignoring them, or outright calling them a 'hoax.' The fallout of his failure to tackle AI could easily define the legacy of his presidency for decades to come."
