Trump tells Axios Show that Anthropic was a national security threat

What happened

In an Axios Show exclusive on 19 June 2026, Donald Trump answered 'Well, not now, but a week ago, maybe' when asked whether he viewed Anthropic as a national security threat. He confirmed he will not shut the company down because the US is winning the AI race against China.

Context and impact

The remark follows a week of tension around export controls on Anthropic's Mythos 5 and Fable 5 models ordered by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Trump met Dario Amodei at the G7 summit, where by his own account he changed his mind — calling Amodei 'nice' and 'smart'. For the AI sector this signals that Anthropic's political standing is stabilizing, even as the frontier-AI export-control framework stays in force.

Details

• Interview aired 19 June 2026 on The Axios Show
• Trump: 'Well, not now, but a week ago, maybe' on the Anthropic threat question
• Meeting with Amodei took place at the G7 summit