With so many actions taken by President Donald Trump in his first seven weeks in office, it can be hard to figure out what the dealmaker-in-chief views as his favorite accomplishment.
From ending the border crisis in record time to draining the “swamp,” Trump and his White House team have already touched more problems than any other president in such a short time, according to presidential historians.
But one move does stand out: Trump’s historic Day Two announcement of securing $500 billion in private investment for “Stargate AI,” which will push the U.S. into the lead in artificial intelligence.
In his first move on his first full day back to the White House, he hosted the IT chiefs anchoring the project, Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
All praised Trump. Said Altman, a former critic of Trump who appeared to change course when the president won, contributing $1 million to the Republican’s Inauguration, “I think this will be the most important project of this era. And as Masa said, for AGI to get built here, to create hundreds of thousands of jobs, to create a new industry centered here, we wouldn’t be able to do this without you, Mr. President and I’m thrilled that we get to.”
Trump’s team made the agreement the top item listed on its first 100 Hours “Golden Age” list. Now some are regretting that.
The reason: Altman is hosting a top-dollar fundraiser for Trump critic Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) in 10 days. The San Francisco event is collecting donations from $1,000 to $22,000.
For perspective, Warner has a tech background and hosted a recent political dinner for Altman. He was the co-founder of tech-com Nextel and is a proponent of AI. But he has been sharply critical of Trump, claiming, “We have chaos on steroids.”
What’s more, he is up for reelection in 2026 and is considered a GOP target. Outgoing Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, is already being urged to run against Warner to help secure Trump’s advantage in the Senate.
According to the New York Times, Altman had stepped away from hosting big fundraisers, so returning it to host a Trump critic is angering administration insiders, they told Secrets.
It’s a “stab in the back,” said one Trump associate, adding, “Say one thing to his face and another behind his back, no one likes that.”
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The fundraiser has also drawn White House attention to OpenAI’s liberal board, including former Clinton era Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, Sue Desmond-Hellmann, the former chief of the Gates Foundation, and Bret Taylor, the former Twitter chief when the platform banned Trump at the end of his first term.
“Some of these literally tried to take Trump down,” said the insider.