All posts tagged: Doug Burgum

Pope’s AI warning latest feud between Trump Administration and Vatican

Pope’s AI warning latest feud between Trump Administration and Vatican

Published by Sam Flores

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum opened a new front Tuesday in the Trump administration’s public feud with the Vatican, dismissing Pope Leo XIV’s warning about artificial intelligence as the White House resists new guardrails on the rapidly evolving technology. “I didn’t know that tech editorializing was part of the role of being pope,” Burgum said in an interview on Fox Business, referring to Leo’s first encyclical, a 42,300-word document that called for stronger AI oversight and warned the technology could displace workers, deepen inequality and put lethal weapons decisions beyond human control. But Vice President JD Vance, the highest-ranking Catholic in the Trump administration and one of its most prominent links to Silicon Valley, in an interview with NBC praised the same message as “profound” and the kind of “moral leadership” the church should offer at the start of the AI age. The split response underscores the delicate politics facing President Donald Trump as he makes AI dominance and deregulation central to his second-term economic agenda while navigating an increasingly public feud with the first American …

U.S. judge blocks Trump administration actions stymieing wind, solar projects

U.S. judge blocks Trump administration actions stymieing wind, solar projects

Published by Sam Flores

Wind turbines operate at a wind farm near solar panels near Palm Springs, California, on March 6, 2024. Mario Tama | Getty Images A federal judge on Tuesday blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from enforcing a series of permitting policies that wind and solar energy industry groups say have ⁠stymied the development of new energy generation projects. Chief U.S. District Judge Denise Casper in Boston issued a preliminary injunction ​sought by nine advocacy ​groups and industry trade ​associations that argued the administration had imposed unlawful roadblocks that have halted the development of wind and solar energy projects nationwide. The ruling was the latest in a series of judicial rebukes ⁠to ‌the Trump administration’s efforts to block federal approvals for wind ⁠energy projects or stop work on multi-billion-dollar offshore wind farms under construction on the East Coast. Trump has sought to boost government support for fossil fuels and maximize their output in the United States, the world’s ‌top oil and gas producer, after campaigning for the presidency on the refrain of “drill, baby, drill.” Groups including …

Rubio explains how U.S. might ‘run’ Venezuela after Maduros’ ouster

Rubio explains how U.S. might ‘run’ Venezuela after Maduros’ ouster

Published by Sam Flores

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks as U.S. President Donald Trump stands behind him during a press conference following a U.S. strike on Venezuela where President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured, from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., January 3, 2026. Jonathan Ernst | Reuters U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday appeared to backtrack on President Donald Trump’s claim that the U.S. will “run” Venezuela after U.S. forces on Saturday captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and hauled him to the U.S. Asked for details on how the U.S. plans to run Venezuela, Rubio said the U.S. would use leverage gained from its oil blockade on the country and regional military buildup to achieve its policy aims. He did not say the U.S. would directly govern Venezuela. The U.S. in recent months has seized tankers associated with the country and moved military ships and warplanes into the Caribbean. “What’s going to happen here is we have a quarantine on their oil, that means their economy will not …