Trump’s Middle East Chip Deals Are the ‘Art Of The Steal,’ Presenting Major National Security Risk Of China Stealing Sensitive American Technology; Leader Schumer And Senator Warren Lead Senate Democrats In Standing Up Against The Loss Of Building The AI Future In America And Urges Admin To Reconsider Catastrophic Agreements
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), along with Senators Jack Reed (D-RI), Mark Warner (D-VA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Chris Coons (D-DE), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), sent a letter to Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, and Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, urging the administration to reconsider the chip ‘deals’ that President Trump announced with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). These deals – without any clear and enforceable protections to stop this sensitive technology from falling into China’s hands – present an immediate national security threat. Selling away America’s AI crown jewels to the highest bidder in the Middle East also undercuts the effort to build the AI future in America and could erode U.S. leadership in this critical technology offshoring American innovation and jobs.
“Without clear protections, these deals incentivize companies to offshore data infrastructure to the highest bidder around the world– a game the Saudis and Emiratis are eager to play,” the Senators wrote. “We should be prioritizing American leadership in AI, making sure American technology prioritizes the buildout of this critical industry here at home, not abroad, and certainly not without strict guardrails to protect our national security. The President is doing the opposite–and he is getting precious little in return.”
While the Senators acknowledge that both Saudi Arabia and the UAE are important regional partners, appropriate national security protections are necessary to prevent sensitive American technology from ultimately flowing to China given these countries’ past records of doing deals with the Chinese Communist Party, questions remain on how President Trump’s personal financial interests may be benefiting from giving away America’s AI technology.
“The real benefits accrued through these deals appear to be to President Trump personally, whose net worth is growing rapidly after Saudi and Emirati funds bought his family’s cryptocurrencies in recent weeks,” the Senators wrote.
The tremendous national security risks are precisely why the Biden administration put in place export controls to ensure China could not exploit American technology sent to the Middle East, and to protect against the erosion of AI infrastructure in America to the benefit of other parts of the world. The Trump administration has stymied this progress, rolling back export control restrictions that are critical to America winning the AI race and preventing China and other adversaries from stealing our technology. This Trump retreat, coupled with the Saudi and UAE deals, are major causes for concern about the Trump administration prioritizing personal gain over the necessity of American AI leadership and national security.
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