Memos to Trump: Policy recommen­dations the new president might actually like

A wise man once told me that there is no policy without politics. I’d amend that absolute a bit: In a democracy, relatively few governmental initiatives go forward simply and entirely on their merits. The political implications of a policy shift are usually hovering in the background, and the politicians considering the shift are usually looking over their shoulders, wondering which of the implications might step forward later to bite them.

But they’re also looking around for positive implications, the possibility that a change in the government’s approach might solve a problem and be good politics (or, to be more cynical, to be good politics and also, perhaps, do some small amount of good). Such win-win efforts are not unknown to US governance. In the 1950s, a Republican president was instrumental in funding the interstate highway system, and the country has benefitted materially ever since—as have President Eisenhower and his party in both the political and historical-assessment senses. And despite the political firestorms that erupted in its first years as law, since its passage in 2010 the Affordable Care Act—or Obamacare, if you will—has increased the numbers of Americans with health insurance and gained in public support that reflects positively on Democrats and President Obama.

In this package, we have asked experts in the existential risks areas that we cover to offer advice to President Trump as he takes office a second time, keeping well in mind that for any politician—and perhaps especially this politician—policy recommendations are far more likely to be accepted when they accord with personal and political proclivities than when they do not.

Check back occasionally. We’ll be adding Trump-inflected recommendations, as they roll in.

Nuclear Risk

Lisbeth Gronlund

Modify the US policy of sole authority to launch nuclear weapons

Mr. President, you should end the policy of placing the responsibility to launch nuclear weapons on one person—you and future presidents. The international community would welcome it.

Mackenzie Knight

Cancel US Air Force’s Sentinel ICBM program

Mr. President, the Sentinel ICBM program's cost and schedule challenges have become untenable and unacceptable for US taxpayers. You should cancel it.

Ankit Panda

Engage in an open-ended diplomatic process with North Korea

Mr. President, North Korea poses growing challenges to US national interests. You should initiate again an open-ended diplomatic process with Kim in which you are ready to trade sanctions relief for verifiable nuclear concessions.

David Kearn

Cancel the sea-launched nuclear cruise missile

Mr. President, the sea-launched nuclear cruise missile is unnecessary, costly, and makes the job of rebuilding our military more difficult. You should cancel it.

Henry Sokolski

Address the new threat of drone-vulnerable nuclear reactors

Mr. President, nuclear power plants are increasingly vulnerable to drone attacks. You should take again the lead and secure reactors against this new threat.

Biosecurity

Al Mauroni

Cut the Pentagon’s chemical and biological defense program

Mr. President, Pentagon leadership has increasingly inserted itself into the way the military branches have been managing chemical and biological weapons defense. This leads to excessive bureaucracy and redundant overlap with other federal agencies.

David Gillum, Gregory Koblentz, Rebecca Moritz, Antony Schwartz

Create a new biosafety and biosecurity agency to oversee research

Mr. President, to improve and streamline oversight of risky pathogen research, you should create a new biosafety and biosecurity agency.

Disruptive Technologies

Ozan Ahmet Cetin

Shape AI’s future by embracing open-source development

Mr. President, you should maintain the open-source-friendly attitude of the previous administration towards AI.

Walter Scheirer

Create sensible AI policies that focus on real—not speculative—concerns

Mr. President, a sensible AI policy must address its problems without inhibiting the US's dominant position, and avoid placing attention on speculative concerns.

Jonathan Panter

Strengthen deterrence with more autonomy for weapons systems

Mr. President, in future wars, weapons systems will need to operate under the assumption of minimal (or zero) human input.

Johnathan Falcone

Develop specific AI guidelines for nuclear command and control

Mr. President, the US should incorporate specific governance for AI in nuclear systems to enhance nuclear safety and security.

More memos for president trump coming soon