Leader Schumer Floor Remarks Calling On Secretaries Lutnick And Rubio To Pause The Chip Deals Donald Trump Announced Last Week With Saudi Arabia And The UAE

Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate Floor on calling on Secretaries Lutnick and Rubio to pause the chip deals Donald Trump announced with a number of Middle Eastern countries. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

Today, I am joining with Senator Warren to lead Senate Democrats in calling on Secretaries Lutnick and Rubio to hit pause on a number of chip deals Donald Trump announced last week with Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

I am alarmed that these deals announced by Donald Trump, which involve the most advanced AI-related semiconductors, have national security threat written all over them. Without clear and enforceable protections, I’m worried that these chips will gradually end up in the hands of the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party, given how cozy the Saudis and Emiratis have been with the Chinese. 

Recent history shows us that when foreign countries end up with American-made chips, the Chinese government, the CCP, and their related companies get a hold of these chips. Deepseek’s AI model was precisely accomplished with U.S.-made chips. Now, Donald Trump wants to potentially open up another loophole with his Middle East chips deals.

Over the years, Chinese companies and the CCP have forged deep ties with the same Middle Eastern countries that Donald Trump is now giving unfettered access to our most advanced AI chips. No serious natural security expert would tell you this is on the level.

It not only threatens our security, but is also risks cannibalizing the U.S. buildout of AI. If we want to stay number one in AI, which we all do, this is the wrong deal.

Why is Donald Trump building the future of AI in the Middle East, and not in America?

We all know that Trump is desperate to show the world he’s Mr. Art of the Deal. But he’s so desperate to tout these deals that he’s not thinking and protecting about the long-term security and jobs implications.

With this deal, American AI chips are being given to the highest bidder, at the expense of the American people and American dominance in the rapidly growing and important field of AI.

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