Trump uses AI to come up with stinging new name for the press

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President Donald Trump swung at the media once again on Tuesday as it appeared that his administration was backing down on efforts to exclude CNN from the press pool, at least for the time being.

The president hosted an event in Washington, D.C., to roll out a new U.S. government AI chatbot aimed at streamlining Americans’ interactions with federal agencies on Tuesday, and during his remarks once again touched on his desire to change the term “artificial intelligence” to “super intelligence,” arguing that there was nothing artificial about the technology. Trump claimed, once again, that Chinese President Xi Jinping, who visited the White House last week, said that he “loves” the rebranding idea.

But the president equated “artificial” with “fake” when, moments later, he claimed that he would begin referring to the press as the “artificial news” media, replacing the “fake news” moniker he’s long favored for any less-than-glowing media reports involving him, his White House or his family.

"This kind of innovation in government is only a preview of what is possible with super intelligence, or SI. And that's the official name in the United States. I'll be signing a very powerful executive order,” said Trump, adding: “I spoke to President Xi. He loves it.”

“Artificial intelligence is like the news. Fake news. I'm going to call them artificial news,” the president continued.

The president’s remarks encapsulated his latest attempt to rebrand and rename an existing entity and put a Trumpified spin on it. After directing the U.S. government to begin referring to the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America,” and Lake Ontario as “Lake America,” the president’s announcement Tuesday served as precursor to his later-afternoon executive order signing changing “artificial intelligence” to “super intelligence” in all federal communications, ditto AI to SI.

In reality, like his adventures in geography, the president’s order to rename the term “AI” will likely have little effect on popular understanding and culture. Americans largely shrugged their shoulders at Trump’s efforts to rename parts of the world, and most won’t even hear about an executive order rebranding artificial intelligence, even with media coverage.

But his jab at the media was significant because it comes following the official confirmation from the White House press pool that CNN’s journalists would be readmitted to the rotation after a lawsuit filed by news agencies against the White House ban. The president tried to ban CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House, only for a judge last week to overturn that order and force the Secret Service to return press badges that were confiscated as reporters were denied entry. The lawsuit is ongoing, but is expected by legal analysts to end up being another failure for the Trump Justice Department.

“They purposely write negative news, and they do that because want to try and diminish the Republicans and a Republican administration,” Trump argued earlier this month as he defended his ban. “And honestly, we've done a fantastic job.”

CNN journalists were initially readmitted to the White House but not the TV pool, which provides daily coverage on a rotating basis that is shared with all major TV networks. The White House backed down days later.

Since the lawsuit was filed, the president has also suggested on Truth Social that he could demolish the White House press briefing room, replacing it with a swimming pool that was once on the same site. He reacted similarly after a D.C. court stymied his efforts to add his name to the Kennedy Center, and was photographed looking at an image depicting the demolition of the institution.

Trump battles frequently with the press in the Oval Office and his latest accusations of unfair coverage come as his approval poll numbers are lingering near their floor.

The crushing unpopularity of the war against Iran has led to Republicans fretting about a potentially historic wave of Democratic wins in November’s midterm elections, while the president has frustratedly sought to distance himself from his party’s upcoming performance and blamed the GOP’s unpopularity on Republican holdouts against his agenda in Congress.

The America.gov service he unveiled on Tuesday was billed as a one-stop shop for Americans to receive government services, whether that be applying for benefits, renewing a passport, seeking a college or small business loan, or enrolling for healthcare.

In reality, the technology as it exists upon launch functions largely in the same way as any other chatbot — able to provide links to existing government agencies and websites, but unable to carry out those services in the kind of streamlined, simplified interface that designers say is coming in 2027 and beyond.