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Growing up in a family of military veterans, it’s one of the jokes I heard most often as a kid. About the mother who was proudly watching her son marching in a parade, only to realize he was out of step with everyone else. “Look!” she said to the person alongside her. “Everyone’s out of step except my son!”

I thought of that clueless soldier this week, listening to Donald Trump rattle on mindlessly about artificial intelligence.

In the last week alone, there’s been a Niagara of warnings about AI on many fronts, starting with AI providers themselves. Most alarmingly, former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon issued a red alert. “I believe that if we don’t slow down at the current rate of progress,” he told the BBC, “there is a strong chance that we could all die in the immediate future.” A former colleague, Anthropic scientist Evan Hubinger, agreed. “We really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans!”, he said. “I personally think (the chance is) 10% within the next decade.”

Surprisingly, Coxon’s former boss didn’t refute his doomsday proposal, he embraced it. Anthropic head Dario Amodei called for AI development to slow down, in order to give companies and governments time to address serious concerns about the rapidly-expanding new technology. And he was joined by heads of two rival AI firms, Sam Altman of OpenAI and Elon Musk of SpacexAI, both of whom said they agree with the need for industry-wide deceleration and regulation, as well as independent monitoring of AI development. Amodei has warned that artificial intelligence could wipe out half of entry-level white-collar jobs within five years. And Musk projects a “20% chance of annihilation.”

Members of Congress have also expressed concerns. More than 100 House Democrats urged Speaker Mike Johnson to keep Congress in session until lawmakers passed “meaningful, bipartisan AI safeguards.” Reps. Lori Trahan (D-Mass.) and Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.) are leading the charge for bipartisan AI safety legislation. The unlikely duo of leftie Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Trumper Steve Bannon momentarily joined forces at this week’s “Pro-Human Assembly,” urging Congress to take action. But, of course, Johnson sent the House home for two months, before Congress could hold even one hearing on the issue.

Both blue and red state governors – California, Texas, New York, Illinois, Oregon, Connecticut, Ohio, and others – have called for limits or outright bans on new data centers. Hundreds of cities and counties have enacted similar restrictions. Among Republican and Democratic candidates nationwide, for state or federal office, shutting or clamping down on data centers is the only issue on which all agree.

And the people have spoken. In a new Politico poll, 63% of Americans say AI could destroy humanity one day. And 48% of Americans favor pausing development of more advanced AI models until governments can figure out how to preserve the promise of AI without letting it destroy us. While New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman concludes: “It’s Already Too Late to Stop the AI Threat.”

It seems like everybody recognizes the dangers of uncontrolled, unregulated AI. Everybody except that one, clueless, out-of-step soldier among the multitude who, unfortunately, resides in the Oval Office.

For Donald Trump, any concern about AI is like concern about climate change, Russian interference in the 2016 election, or higher gas prices. It’s all a “HOAX!” In fact, we don’t have to worry about AI at all. Because he’s on the job. “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 posted on Truth Social. Those who warn otherwise he branded as “Conspiracy Theorists, Treasonists, Traitors, and Leakers.”

What’s behind Trump’s refusal to accept reality? That’s not hard to figure out. As with anything else Trump does: FOLLOW THE MONEY! Trump and his family are cashing in on the AI boom from their business relationships with AI companies. The Washington Post reported that in 2026 Trump himself, as president, made thousands of stock trades, including purchases of shares in Nvidia, Oracle, Dell, and Palantir – all of whom have contracts with the federal government. Reuters reported that Trump received more than $1.4 billion in 2025 from family crypto ventures with some of the same firms active in AI. All of which raise serious conflict-of-interest issues, which nobody cares about anymore.

That sums up today’s news on the AI front. Those who know are warning: “Danger, Danger!” But Donald Trump only hears: “Ka-ching, Ka-ching!”

(Bill Press is host of The BillPressPod, and author of 10 books, including: “From the Left: My Life in the Crossfire.” His email address is: bill@billpress.com. Readers may also follow him on Twitter @billpresspod and on BlueSky @BillPress.bsky.social.)

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