Trump says he doesn't mind AI 'guardrails' and would work with Democrats on AI safety, but not at the cost of trailing China
In a "60 Minutes" interview that aired Sunday, the president said the risks of artificial intelligence are overstated and can be managed. San Jose Rep. Sam Liccardo has a bill waiting.
President Donald Trump said he is open to "guardrails" on artificial intelligence and would work with Democrats on AI safety, according to a CBS News transcript of his "60 Minutes" interview, which aired Sunday, Nov. 8. The interview was taped Friday at the White House.
Guardrails are rules or safety checks that limit how AI systems are built, tested or used. The debate covers tools many people already use, such as the chatbots ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, and the more powerful systems companies are racing to build next.
What Trump said
Asked by correspondent Ross Douthat whether he would work with Democrats on AI safety, Trump said yes. "I don't mind guardrails. But I don't wanna put us in a deep second position," he said, adding that China "has no guardrails."
Trump called himself "an AI bull," meaning he is optimistic about it. He said the risk "is not nearly as real" as some AI builders claim and "can be managed." He said whichever country wins the AI race "wins," and that Chinese President Xi Jinping had visited about two weeks earlier.
Why it matters now
Democrats won control of the House and Senate in Tuesday's midterm elections, the CBS transcript notes. Until now, Trump's AI policy has leaned toward fewer rules. A December 2025 executive order called for a "minimally burdensome" national standard and set up a Justice Department task force to challenge state AI laws in court.
One proposal is already waiting. On Sept. 22, Rep. Sam Liccardo, D-San Jose, and Rep. Kevin Kiley, I-California, announced a bill directing the State Department to seek binding AI safety rules with China. It would set up an emergency AI hotline between the two governments and provide $100 million for the Center for AI Standards and Innovation to work with other countries on shared ways to test AI systems, according to Liccardo's office.
Trump did not name any specific rule he would support.
Source: CBS News "60 Minutes" transcript, Nov. 8, 2026; Executive Order 14365, Dec. 11, 2025; Rep. Sam Liccardo news release, Sept. 22, 2026.
- CBS News: 60 Minutes Transcript: Donald Trump, the 2026 post-midterm elections interview (aired Nov. 8, 2026) - verbatim record of the president's remarks
- The White House: Executive Order 14365, Ensuring a National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence (Dec. 11, 2025)
- Rep. Sam Liccardo: New Bipartisan AI Safety Bill Will Move U.S. and China Beyond the "Red Phone" (Sept. 22, 2026)
- Rep. Sam Liccardo: Negotiating AI Safety Globally, bill outline (PDF)