Tech developments saw less drama than trade and environmental shifts during Trump’s first 100 days. Continuity, not abrupt change, defined his approach to AI and digital regulation. Only 9 of 139 executive orders (EOs) focused on tech. Trump’s tech policy emphasised reviews and incremental shifts.

Public consultations on AI, cybersecurity, and cryptocurrencies signal steady evolution over upheaval.

This analysis is prepared ahead of an online discussion on tech in the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency.

Can Policy Continuity ‘Continue’?

Trump’s approach reinforced a business-centric tech policy, consistent with over a century of U.S. tradition favouring private-sector innovation. Policy continuity is good news for the maintenance of integrated Internet worldwide.

The main challenges for traditional U.S. tech policy come from a potential spill-over from, in particular, global trade war that could be triggered by U.S. tariffs introduced on 6 of April. Can the internet traffic flow across national borders when the physical world is increasingly constrained by restrictions on goods, services, people, and capital?

This strategic Catch-22 is becoming tangible around, in particular, four main issues: digital service taxation, regulatory pressures, content policies, and access to data for AI development.

Content Governance

On 20 January 2025, an executive order titled “Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship” de-emphasised efforts to combat misinformation and disinformation both nationally and internationally. Elon Musk’s pushback against content restrictions at Twitter (nowadays X) was followed at the beginning of 2025 by Meta Platforms, host of Facebook and Instagram.

Two key questions will dominate the content policy debate: What responsibility should tech platforms bear for the content they host? The future of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects tech companies from liability for user-generated content, remains uncertain. While there has been bipartisan support for reforming Section 230, no concrete changes have been made.

How will the U.S. navigate international tensions over content regulation? The EU’s Digital Services Act and Australia’s law banning minors from accessing social media are examples of a growing global push for content regulation and stricter oversight of tech platforms. Trump’s content policy will collide with this trend and create new tech tensions with many countries, including U.S. partners.

TikTok Saga

TikTok saga continues with the latest extension giving ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent, till mid-June to find a non-Chinese buyer for TikTok. With the introduction of tariffs for China, TikTok negotiations got new geoeconomic and geopolitical dimensions, finding a proper soluton even more complex.

AI: Aligning With Global Trends

By revoking Executive Order 14110 on the first day in the office, President Trump started a shift from a focus on AI safety of Biden’s administration towards a pro-business development agenda. It was not a major surprise, as it followed a broader shift from the safety and ‘extinction risk’ narrative of 2023 towards a more balanced view on AI between risks and opportunities. AI education is an area of low profile and high policy impact.

Trump issued a new executive order initiating a public consultation for a new AI Action Plan that should be finalised within 180 days. Among 8,755 public comments for new action plan submitted by 15 March 2025, three major AI companies outlined the following priorities: OpenAI calls for ideological AI as a tool in battle between freedom and authoritarianism of China. Google’s emphasis is on competitiveness and regulatory harmonisation around OECD and the International Standardization Organisation. Anthropic focuses on technical safety and national security.

Internationally, U.S. Vice-President Vance’s speech outlined the shift from the focus on AI safety towards AI development and cooperation, summarising it: ‘When a massive incumbent comes to us asking for safety regulations, we ought to ask whether that regulation is for the benefit of our people or for the benefit of the incumbent.’ It is likely that the U.S. will resist any major AI governance initiatives that can contain AI industry.

Cybersecurity: Continuity and Focus on China

‘Continuity’ can describe both Trump’s national and international cybersecurity policies.

Nationally, Trump called for a review of Biden’s policy initiatives, including ‘Strengthening the Security and Resilience of United States Food and Agriculture’ (10 November 2022), ‘Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience’ (30 April 2024); two executive orders dealing with the security of supply chains (14017 and 14123).

The main new development is that Executive Order explicitly exclude coverage of ‘cognitive infrastructure’ that include dealing with ‘misinformation,’ ‘disinformation,’ or ‘malinformation.’ This is—in a way—a return to traditional U.S. cybersecurity policy which focuses exclusively on protection of technical infrastructure without interference in the content. Internationally, in relations,

Trump continued with export restrictions that he set during his first presidency, and Biden further developed them. Internationally, export controls on China persisted, but Russia was removed from the cyber-threat list, aligning with the U.S.‘s overall geopolitical shift.

Digital Economy: Tariffs, Taxes, Regulations, and De Minimis

Although the first 100 days did not bring any major policies in the digital economy, the new set of tariffs introduced on 6th April could have the tech industry as ‘collateral damage’. It seems unlikely that the free flow of data—key for the tech sector—will remain possible if there are restrictions on the movement of other pillars of the modern economy: goods, services, people, and capital. With the current pause in introducing U.S. tariffs, there will be more time to review risks on digital networks and the internet.

Apart from tariff tensions, the digital economy will be affected by the introduction of digital services taxes (DSTs). After failed OECD digital tax negotiations, many countries started implementing DST, ensuring that tech companies contribute to the local economies they profit from. France has imposed a 3 percent tax and the UK a 2 percent tax on revenue generated by their citizens’ use of search engines, social media platforms, and other e-services.

The U.S. retaliated with counter-tariffs under Section 301 of the U.S. Trade Act against Austria, France, Italy, Spain, Türkiye, and the UK. The Trump administration threatened to escalate countermeasures under Section 891 of the same Act, specifying double corporate taxes on firms from jurisdictions that tax U.S. companies. In the case of a trade war, it is also likely that countries will apply more stringent regulatory pressure against tech firms. Some interpret the EU’s measures against Meta and Facebook in this context.

On 2 April, Trump signed EO 14257, ending the de minimis exemption that allowed customs- and tax-free importation of goods under a certain value threshold. The new regulation will considerably impact Chinese companies such as Temu, which exported some U.S. $240 billion in direct-to-consumer trade worldwide in 2024, accounting for 7 percent of its overseas sales and contributing 1.3 percent of China’s GDP.

Tariffs, taxes, and regulatory pressure are likely to lead to the fragmentation of the global digital economy. Economic fragmentation may trigger technical fragmentation through increased traffic filtering and divergent standards in a cascading effect. In the most radical scenario, such trends could result in the Internet splitting into separate, non-interoperable systems.

Cryptocurrencies: New Dawn

Following strong support of the crypto industry to Trump’s campaign, it is not surprising that Trump introduced a few policies aimed at supporting this industry. Trump, who is also labelled as the first ‘crypto president,’ aggressively deregulated crypto economy. On 23 January, Trump’s EO Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology revoked Biden’s regulation limiting cryptocurrencies, prohibited establishing a central bank digital currency (CBDC), and prohibited establishing a working group that should propose a regulatory framework for digital assets within 180 days.

On 6 March, EO on Establishment of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and United States Digital Asset | Stockpile allowed the Tereasuty to hold confiscated Bitcoin (estimated around 200.000 BTC) and other forfeited tokens as government-heald reserve assets. Overall, the Trump administration’s crypto agenda has combined sweeping executive actions to champion digital assets with a deregulatory enforcement ethos—yet it has sparked industry unease over partisan volatility, potential market distortions, and conflicts at the highest levels of policy-making.

UN and U.S. Digital Diplomacy

U.S. digital diplomacy reflects the broader shift in Trump’s geopolitical strategy. For example, rapprochement with Russia led to a UN statement removing Russia from the list of nations designated as cyber threats. Other international processes, such as discussions at the UN Commission on Science and Technology for Development, were impacted by U.S. opposition to including references to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and certain gender-related terms (e.g. gender digital divides).

Another signal of U.S. priorities is the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) exclusion from organisations facing significant cuts to American funding, except for one small project. Analysts, including those at Geneva Solutions, attribute this to the ITU’s potential role in providing regulatory certainty for initiatives like Elon Musk’s space exploration ventures.

Conclusion: Continuity With International Challenges

While Trump’s presidency may bring some shifts in tech policy, particularly around content regulation and AI, it will be shaped by the long-term continuity of the U.S. tech policy prioritising private-sector innovation and resisting international regulatory efforts.

However, maintaining this approach will require navigating growing tensions with the EU, China, and other countries that aim to increase their digital sovereignty, including data flow and economic gains from the Internet economy.

Thus, evolution rather than revolution will likely mark tech governance during Trump’s presidency.