Trump Just Bought $80 Billion Worth of Nuclear Reactors to Keep the AI Bubble Cooking

The Trump administration just finalized a deal to purchase some $80 billion worth of nuclear reactors, as part of an ongoing effort to prop up the AI industry—a business that, according to insiders and critics alike, increasingly looks like a financially dubious effort to outrun reality.

Yes, the AI industry continues to roar ahead with a virile gusto that, as many observers have noted, doesn’t seem to match its moneymaking operations. Companies are pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into AI, and so far, they aren’t seeing any sort of return on their investment. Thus, all the “bubble†talk. To keep this quixotic dream afloat, Silicon Valley insists that it needs more and more power (literally and figuratively) and, as it turns out, the quickest way to secure that power is by resurrecting America’s dying nuclear industry.

Thus, the White House’s new deal, which, according to a press release, will involve a new strategic partnership that will involve “at least $80 billion of new reactors†that will be constructed throughout the U.S. The press release, published by a participating company—the Camceo Corporation—adds: “These new reactors will reinvigorate the nuclear power industrial base.†Other participants in the deal include the Westinghouse Electric Company and Brookfield Asset Management.

The press release also includes a statement from Howard Lutnick, Trump’s billionaire Commerce Secretary: “Our administration is focused on ensuring the rapid development, deployment, and use of advanced nuclear technologies. This historic partnership supports our national security objectives and enhances our critical infrastructure.â€

In a separate statement, Trump Energy Secretary Chris Wright said that the “historic partnership†would “help unleash President Trump’s grand vision to fully energize America and win the global AI race.â€

Lots of people have concerns about the potential health impacts of a second Nuclear Age—including people within Trump’s own administration. Indeed, the deal speaks to a broader fissure in the Trump White House between two distinct camps: MAGA and MAHA. These camps, which are supposedly simpatico, have nevertheless always seemed to suffer from seemingly unresolvable ideological tensions. The MAGA camp obviously wants to Make America Great Again and, according to its chief policy technicians (folks like the pencil-headed libertarian Russell Vought), that means castrating the administrative state and giving all of its meddlesome regulators the boot. As far as I can discern, making America “great†again is all about allowing America’s oligarchic titans of industry the freedom to remake the nation in their own image, unrestrained from cumbersome restrictions like laws or concern for public welfare. At the same time, the MAHA camp is on a valiant crusade to Make America Healthy Again and, you might assume, that involves regulations—new health policies to restrict private enterprise from harming Americans with dangerous chemicals and toxins.

In particular, MAHA’s leader, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has spoken out about what he believes are the dangerous effects of radiation, albeit the kinds emitted by cell phones, 5G, and other smart devices. Such a stance would seem to put him and his movement at odds with the Trump administration, which wants to unleash a new generation of nuclear reactors upon America.

Luckily for MAGA, MAHA has never seemed all that interested in creating new policies designed to protect Americans. In fact, it has instead actually pursued its own deregulatory effort at the agencies in which it’s active, to the point where America’s health professionals are now in open revolt. Yes, instead of instituting new regulatory regimes meant to protect Americans, Kennedy has instead opted to gut many parts of the Department of Health and Human Services, which he oversees.

When it comes to radiation, it doesn’t seem like the HHS is destined to stand in the White House’s way. In a new story about the policy conflicts between the MAGA and MAHA camps, the New York Times notes that, as per usual, this government’s policies don’t seem to add up:

Mr. Kennedy may preside over the nation’s public health policies, but other parts of the Trump administration want to loosen federal restrictions on another type of radiation that is notorious for its powers to sicken and kill. President Trump has backed both agendas. He supports Mr. Kennedy while also backing moves to ease regulations on the nuclear industry, which the administration seeks to revive after decades of decline. It wants power reactors big and small to electrify his MAGA vision of spurring American industry to greater success.

In the battle over radiation, it seems likely that MAGA will continue to win and MAHA will simply look the other way and go back to whining about chemtrails or something. Indeed, so far, it isn’t as if MAHA has really succeeded in any tangible way when it comes to its supposed mission. Kennedy, a man whose many ideological positions have always seemed at odds with one another, recently dunked his own head in a toxic woodland stream. Perhaps he was trying to get Americans ready for a much more polluted future? It’s hard to say. It’s also possible that he just has no idea what he’s talking about—which, you know, isn’t comforting, either.