Anthropic’s relationship with the Trump administration seems to be thawing
Intelligence report synthesized for precision. Verified source updates below.
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Anthropic’s relationship with the Trump administration seems to be thawing
Anthony Ha
7:56 AM PDT · April 18, 2026
Despite recently being designated a supply-chain risk by the Pentagon, Anthropic is still talking to high-level members of the Trump administration.
There were earlier signs of a thawing relationship — or a sense that not every part of the administration wanted to cut off Anthropic — with reports saying that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell were encouraging the heads of major banks to test out Anthropic’s new Mythos model.
Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark seemed to confirm this, claiming that the ongoing fight over the supply-chain risk designation is a “narrow contracting dispute” that would not interfere with the company’s willingness to brief the government about its latest models.
Then on Friday, Axios reported that Bessent and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles had met with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. In a statement, the White House described this as an “introductory meeting” that was “productive and constructive.”
“We discussed opportunities for collaboration, as well as shared approaches and protocols to address the challenges associated with scaling this technology,” the White House said.
Similarly, Anthropic issued a statement confirming that Amodei had met with “senior administration officials for a productive discussion on how Anthropic and the U.S. government can work together on key shared priorities such as cybersecurity, America’s lead in the AI race, and AI safety.”
The company added that it’s “looking forward to continuing these discussions.”
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The dispute between Anthropic and the Pentagon seemingly began after failed negotiations over the military’s use of Anthropic’s models; the AI company sought to maintain safeguards around the use of its technology for fully autonomous weapons and mass domestic surveillance. (OpenAI quickly announced a military deal of its own, leading to some consumer backlash.)
The Pentagon subsequently declared Anthropic a supply-chain risk — a label that’s generally reserved for foreign adversaries and could severely limit the use of Anthropic’s models by the government. The company is challenging that designation in court.
But it sounds like the rest of the Trump administration doesn’t share the Pentagon’s hostility, with an administration source telling Axios that “every agency” except the Department of Defense wants to use the company’s technology.
Anthony Ha
Anthony Ha is TechCrunch’s weekend editor. Previously, he worked as a tech reporter at Adweek, a senior editor at VentureBeat, a local government reporter at the Hollister Free Lance, and vice president of content at a VC firm. He lives in New York City.
You can contact or verify outreach from Anthony by emailing anthony.ha@techcrunch.com.
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