An artificial intelligence agenda formed on the podcasts of Silicon Valley billionaires is now being set into U.S. policy as President Donald Trump leans on the ideas of the tech figures who backed his election campaign. Trump plans on Wednesday to reveal an “AI Action Plan” he ordered after revoking President Joe Biden’s signature AI guardrails.
The plan and related executive orders are expected to include some familiar tech lobby pitches: accelerating the sale of AI technology abroad and making it easier to construct the energy-hungry data center buildings that are needed to form and run AI products, according to a person briefed on Wednesday’s event who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. It might also include some of the AI culture war preoccupations of the circle of venture capitalists who endorsed Trump last year.
Here’s the latest:
Global markets rally on Trump's Asian trade deals
Global shares rallied on Wednesday, with Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index gaining 3.5% after Japan and the U.S. announced a deal on Trump’s tariffs.
The tariff agreement as announced calls for a 15% U.S. import duty on goods from Japan, apart from certain products such as steel and aluminum that are subject to much higher tariffs. That’s down from the 25% Trump had said would kick in on Aug. 1 if a deal was not reached.
“This Deal will create Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs — There has never been anything like it,” Trump posted on Truth Social, noting that Japan was also investing “at my direction” $550 billion into the U.S. He said Japan would “open” its economy to American autos and rice.
Trump announced the U.S. will place a 19% tax on goods from Indonesia and the Philippines. A senior Trump official said Indonesia will charge no tariffs on 99% of its trade with the United States and drop its nontariff barriers on U.S. goods. Trump said the U.S. won’t pay any tariffs in the Philippines, but they will pay 19%.
“President Trump has signed two trade deals this week with the Philippines and Japan which is likely to keep market sentiment propped up despite deals with the likes of the EU and South Korea remaining elusive, for now at least,” Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at Kohle Capital Markets, said in a report.
The Epstein files — delayed, but far from forgotten
House Speaker Mike Johnson rebuffed pressure to act on the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, instead sending members home early on Wednesday for a month-long break from Washington after the week’s legislative agenda was upended by Republican members who are clamoring for a vote.
“There’s no purpose for the Congress to push an administration to do something they’re already doing,” Johnson said at his last weekly news conference.
The speaker’s stance did little to alleviate the intra-party turmoil unfolding on Capitol Hill as many of Trump’s supporters demand that the administration meet its promises to publicly release a full accounting of the sex trafficking investigation into Epstein, who killed himself in his New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial. Under pressure from right-wing online influencers, as well as voters back home, rank-and-file Republicans are demanding House intervention.
“The public’s not going to let this die, and rightfully so,” said Rep. Ralph Norman, a South Carolina Republican.
Trump says EU will be in Washington for trade talks as tariff deadline nears
The president told congressional Republicans at a Tuesday night dinner that European Union officials will be in town Wednesday for the talks.
“We have Europe coming in tomorrow, the next day,” Trump said after announcing a trade framework with Japan.
The president sent a letter this month threatening the 27 EU member states with 30% tariffs to be imposed starting Aug. 1.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.