President Donald Trump highlighted one key path to winning the artificial intelligence race during his State of the Union address.
The president enthusiastically touted First Lady Melania Trump’s K-12 “BE BEST Fostering the Future” initiative, which includes AI education and training for children. Trump declared, “Students and educators in every state have joined the First Lady’s efforts in the presidential AI challenge, keeping America’s Next Generation positioned to succeed and strongly succeed in the future.” The effort to train the next generation in AI use and innovation will be vital in beating the communist Chinese government in the AI race, a goal which MRC frequently highlights.
Indeed, MRC Vice President for Free Speech Dan Schneider statedon Wednesday, “Ensuring U.S. tech independence and dominance in the years ahead is absolutely vital for our national security and economic future.”
He added, “That's why it's so critically important that young Americans are equipped to become the next generation of responsible, highly capable AI experts—programmers, designers, and entrepreneurs. We can't afford to fall behind and President Trump is giving our nation a decisive edge in the race to beat communist China on this front.”
The Trump administration has two primary focuses on AI: encouraging innovation while promoting free speech.
In July 2025, Trump released a comprehensive AI Action Plan to expand AI infrastructure, boost American AI systems and combat woke programming in AI. Trump announced a ban on government use of “AI technology that has been infused with partisan bias or ideological agendas such as critical race theory,” prioritizing instead “AI that pursues truth, fairness, and strict impartiality.”
The First Lady’s initiative is not directly mentioned or outlined in that action plan, but it is part of the administration’s broader AI strategy.
In November 2025, the White House announced the Executive Order on Fostering the Future for American Children and Families to secure public and private educational commitments, create a platform for foster children to pursue success, increase education voucher access and expand opportunities for foster youth scholarships. This includes AI education.
In August, the First Lady launched an AI challenge or competition for students to come up with community-focused AI solutions.
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Photo credit: (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)
