US election special, with Grant Neeley - Ctrl Alt Lead podcast
Where does Trump stand on the tech sector?
Donald Trump will be the next President of the United States. What are his stances on key tech sector issues?
After an election many thought would be closer than it turned out to be, Donald Trump has swept to victory and secured a second term in the White House.
Trump’s first term was marked by tribal politics, protectionism and uncertainty, but the world has changed since 2020. Artificial intelligence is everywhere, Russia is overtly aggressive and the global economy has plunged. How will the new president address these issues?
The day after the election, for a special bonus episode of Computing’s Ctrl Alt Lead podcast, I talked to Grant Neeley – professor of political science and director of the cybersecurity unit at the University of Dayton, Ohio, and a captain in the US Navy Reserve – to hear from an expert about the 47th President’s plans for the tech sector.
Despite now heading his own social media firm, Trump didn’t talk much about technology pre-election, aside from a few comments about cryptocurrency and TikTok. Grant believes the President Elect has stances on the industry, rather than firm policies at present. He is anti-regulation and paints himself as pro-business, but has also indicated his preference for protectionist moves like import tariffs, which are likely to raise inflation.
Unlike tech, Trump did talk extensively about immigration. He favours American workers for American jobs, but like the rest of the Western world, those skilled workers are in short supply. Simply turning off the immigration tap, without investing in retraining and upskilling, will only damage the US tech sector, said Grant.
At the end of the day, many of Donald Trump’s policies are likely to rely on his advisors – both formal and informal. Now knowing how short tenure can be in a Trump White House, we'll have to see who is brave or foolish enough to stick their head above the parapet and take a top job.
We also talked about key areas like antitrust, AI, China and funding for big infrastructure investments like the CHIPS Act.
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