In July of last year, President Trump released his AI Action Plan, a comprehensive vision of how America can achieve and maintain global dominance in artificial intelligence (AI). The White House said this was a race that will determine who gets to "set global AI standards and reap broad economic and military benefits."
During his first days in office, President Trump signed Executive Order 14179, "Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence," which called for the creation of an AI action plan.
That AI Action Plan has three pillars: innovation, infrastructure, and international diplomacy and security.
The need to advance the president's AI agenda is urgent and timely. Last week, Townhall LIVE hosted its first-ever event, a panel on AI and cryptocurrency, featuring Republican Senators Bernie Moreno of Ohio, Steve Daines and Tim Sheehy of Montana, and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, with Salem Media's Scott Jennings as moderator, and Townhall's Larry O'Connor as emcee.
The panelists' message was clear: Republicans in Congress need to advance the president's AI agenda and create a federal framework that will prevent a patchwork of state-based regulations that could turn America into another Europe. More importantly, the panelists pointed out that the AI competition is a two-way race between America and China, and it's one America cannot afford to lose.
"First of all, as we all know, this is a binary race between America and China. Europe is unfortunately completely lost in the weeds here. So we have to win, and the only way we can win is by having one unified view of how we're going to put the guardrails up for AI," said Senator Moreno.
That race starts with a robust energy policy that allows America to unleash her full energy potential and dominate in the field of energy production.
"The four of us represent states where coal was under attack. So we need to make certain that we preserve coal as an affordable, abundant energy source," Moreno said. "Natural gas is big in my state. Small modular nuclear is starting to come back in. I think there's a role for solar. I think you need all those things. And of course, drill, baby, drill. We are now the largest energy exporter on earth, and I think that's all due to President Trump's policies."
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Senator Daines pointed out that China is rapidly building that energy infrastructure, noting, "If you look at the energy that we had, capacity, ten years ago, it was around 1.3 terawatts. These are big numbers. China was about the same level we're ten years ago. We moved from about 1.3 to 1.5 terawatts capacity in the last ten years. China went from 1.1 to 3.5. They built ten times more energy capacity than we did in the last ten years. And we need 50 to 80 percent more energy in the next ten to 15 years than we consume today. And thank God President Trump won the election, and thank God that we have a Republican majority in the Senate and the House to move forward with this."
President Trump's AI Action Plan lays out that it will "continue to reject radical climate dogma and bureaucratic red tape."
"Energy policy is going to be absolutely critical, and if you can imagine, we would have been toast had Kamala Harris won because they would have destroyed American energy," said Moreno.
A major focus was pushing federal regulation for AI rather than having 50 states with their own regulations, something the panelists agreed on and emphasized during the discussion. Senator Sheehy pointed out that Europe tried that with Internet regulations, and economic hardship followed.
"I think it's worth double-tapping the 50-state patchwork because folks, I think, especially on our side of the aisle who think that state-based regulation for AI is potentially a good idea, look what happened to Europe," Sheehy said. "They had a 36-state patchwork for the internet in the late 90s. They said each nation-state in the EU is going to make their own regulatory framework for the internet. And they did, and the result was Europe has become an economic backwater because tech companies like Google and Facebook and Twitter, now X, decided we're not going to waste our time investing in a continent, in a region that can't decide what it wants."
Jennings asked how these Republicans planned to message the president's AI agenda and things like data centers to the American public. While Republicans in Congress largely agree on policy, there are some who object, and there are many American people who have concerns.
The Democrats, of course, are largely in opposition to the president's AI agenda.
"If you look at the canary in the crazy coal mine, which is the Democrat Party, Bernie Sanders is the guy. So, Bernie Sanders, 15 years ago, we laughed … he's actually the center of the Democrat Party today. What does Bernie Sanders want to do? He wants to ban AI in America. I don't think he knows what that means, right? But that tells you there's a problem out there," Moreno said. "There are ways to address this with the American people."
"I believe the solution is we've got to go on offense on communications," Moreno said. "What does that mean? The time for tax incentives to build data centers is over. These companies have lots of money; there should be no taxpayer money funding that. Secondly, we need to talk about environmental impact. One of the reasons a lot of this is happening in America is because we have Lee Zeldin running the EPA."
"Number three, as Senator Lummis said, they have to produce their own power. They can't draw power down from the grid and spike electric prices. Number four, and most importantly, this goes to your issue. We have to talk about how this is a positive thing for humanity. How is it going to empower working Americans?" Moreno continued. "Unless we're talking to working Americans and saying this is going to make you a more productive, better worker, improve your outcome and improve, eventually, your wages, we'll lose the battle to Bernie Sanders."
Daines pointed out that we will not only lose to Democrats but also to China. "The reason this is so important, if you look at AI data centers, is that you know, that's a means to an end. The end is winning ... the technology race on quantum and AI."
"Last year, the Chinese were granted more patents. Seventy-four percent of the AI patents last year went to the Chinese. Twelve percent went to Americans," Daines said.
Cryptocurrency was also a topic of discussion during the panel.
Moreno said that Congress is working on passing a market structure every single day, giving Sens. Lummis and Hagerty credit for passing the Genius Act. "Obviously, there's been a lot of noise in the system that's kind of ... to be brutally honest, is totally fake," Moreno noted. "There's this idea that yield and rewards is an existential threat to banks, especially community banks."
"Stablecoins are not a threat to any bank. In fact, deposits have grown since the Genius Act came out. You can have an opinion, but you can't have your own facts," Moreno continued. "So I think we're going to resolve that issue," he said about concerns surrounding cryptocurrency. "I think we're going to get market structure done by the end of May," he added.
"The Biden administration and the Harris administration would have destroyed the crypto industry in the United States of America. It would be ashes, and all that innovation would be happening somewhere else," Moreno said.
Lummis, a key legislator on cryptocurrency issues, said, "Getting started with stablecoins helped. Now we're going to do market structure, so we'll know what a commodity is, what a security is. There will be assurity and certainty by the people who are regulated to know where they fit in the regulatory structure."
In concluding remarks, the senators reiterated the need to advance President Trump's agenda on AI and cryptocurrency.
"Ultimately, we're the last best hope of the world to defend Western Civilization," Jennings said. "And this takes on many forms."
"Every other time there's been a threat to Western Civilization, there's been an outlet," said Sheehy. "We get on the ships and cross the ocean and start a new one, or we get on the wagons and head West."
"Until Elon's ready to take all of us to Mars on the starship ... this is it," he continued. "I mean, Australia's gone ... Europe's already surrendered, they're largely gone. Canada and Australia seem to be close behind. Like, we're it, and the core of that Western Civilization is our economy. Our vibrant economy, our entrepreneurial spirit. And right now, nowhere is that more evident than on the topics we discussed tonight. It's imperative we win this struggle."
"America was built by pioneers," said Moreno. "By risk-takers. By people who saw something that others didn't. We can never lose that culture. And that culture's lost when you have fear of the unknown. When you're afraid of the future. That, sadly, right now is the Democrat Party. They're the party of extreme social issues, extreme cult activists, the idea that America's best days are behind us. We are the party of the future, of innovation, of fearlessness. Keeping that pioneer spirit alive. We stand on the shoulders of people who came before us that did amazing things. What we can never extinguish is that pioneer spirit."
"When all else fails, read the directions," Lummis said. "And the best directions for governing in the whole world, ever, has been the United States Constitution. And as long as we stick to that document, and assiduously guard and protect it, and read it, and make sure that we imbue our families with it, we will be okay. If we get away from the U.S. Constitution and allow others who want to redesign this country, we will fail."
"We spent a lot of time tonight talking about threats of China, threats of what's going on around the world. I would argue the two most important dates that are coming up on our calendar in the next few years are November of this year and November of 2028," Daines said. "The greatest threat to our nation is not somewhere far away, it's what happens within a five-mile radius of where we are sitting here tonight."
This panel was the first in the Townhall LIVE event series, and more will be coming.
"The first Townhall LIVE event successfully brought together industry stakeholders, lawmakers, senior Hill staff, and media for a lively discussion on the future of AI and crypto, and the need for America to lead the way with four of the most prominent America First Senators. We look forward to hosting many more. A special thanks to our partners Cunninham Communications, S2R Public Affairs, and our great sponsors: The Innovation Council, America First Digital, Build American AI, and Coinbase," said Storm Paglia, VP of News & Operations for Townhall Media.
"What's better than a who's who of conservative political leaders, officials, and media with music, adult beverages, and an important discussion of critical policy issues led by Scott Jennings and Larry O’Connor?" added Jonathan Garthwaite, Publisher of Townhall Media. "The premiere of Townhall LIVE is only the beginning, so stay tuned."
Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
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