The Trump administration has made a series of high-profile moves on health technology in the months since President Donald Trump’s second term took full shape.
Here is a look at those moves:
Trump administration pushes for AI physicians
The Trump administration is pushing to expand AI’s role in healthcare, supporting a Utah pilot where AI writes prescriptions, investing more than $50 million in conversational AI tools for cardiovascular care, and fast-tracking approvals for AI-powered health products. Federal officials are also developing a regulatory pathway for independent AI physicians. While supporters say AI is already improving care, critics and regulators warn that overreliance on the technology could pose patient safety risks.
Trump signs AI cybersecurity executive order
President Donald Trump on June 2 signed an executive order aimed at strengthening AI-driven cybersecurity and advancing AI innovation across the federal government. The order directs agencies to implement its provisions within 30 to 60 days, including expanding AI-powered cyber defenses for federal systems and extending cybersecurity support to state and local governments, rural hospitals, community banks and other critical infrastructure operators.
It also calls for the creation of a voluntary public-private cybersecurity clearinghouse to coordinate vulnerability scanning and software patching. On the national security front, federal officials will establish a process for identifying the most advanced AI systems, with developers able to voluntarily provide the government early access to certain frontier AI models up to 30 days before broader release. The order prohibits mandatory AI licensing requirements, prioritizes prosecution of AI-enabled cybercrime, and expands federal cybersecurity hiring efforts through the U.S. Tech Force.
Trump postpones AI oversight executive order
In May, President Trump postponed signing a planned executive order that would have expanded federal oversight of AI models before their public release. The proposal raised concerns about preserving the U.S. competitive advantage in AI development, particularly against China. The order would have directed federal agencies, including the Office of the National Cyber Director, to develop a framework for evaluating cybersecurity risks tied to new AI models, with a focus on vulnerabilities threatening critical infrastructure. The planned signing was canceled shortly before it was expected to take place, despite invitations already being sent to executives from several major technology companies.
HHS moves to relax AI health tech safeguards
According to a May report from The Philadelphia Inquirer, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s health IT office would eliminate two long-standing requirements: user-centered design testing, in which developers test products with physicians and nurses before deployment, and transparency requirements for AI decision-making.
White House AI plan omits nurses
In April, the White House’s AI plan drew safety concerns from nurse leaders at Emory Healthcare in Atlanta, Intermountain Health in Salt Lake City and St. Luke’s Health System in Boise, Idaho, after nursing was not included in the policy framework.
AI legislative framework
The administration released a national framework in March outlining its legislative priorities for AI, signaling a push for a unified federal approach to regulating the technology.
White House cybersecurity strategy names hospitals
President Trump’s March 6 cybersecurity strategy plan called for “unprecedented coordination across government and the private sector” to increase the nation’s cybersecurity, specifically naming hospitals as critical infrastructure that must be identified, prioritized and hardened.
The framework also seeks to simplify or streamline cyber regulations for industry, with the administration arguing that excessive compliance requirements slow innovation and responses to threats. The plan also calls for coordinated action across agencies and diplomacy to combat cybercrime and ransomware groups.
TrumpRx launches as federal drug pricing platform
The White House launched TrumpRx.gov on Feb. 5, a federal direct-to-consumer platform offering discounted prescription drugs. The administration had been negotiating most-favored-nation pricing agreements with pharmaceutical manufacturers to align U.S. prices for otherwise high-cost drugs with the lowest available in other developed nations. At launch, the website featured 43 brand-name medications.
Much of the administration’s 2026 health tech activity stems from a major initiative announced in mid-2025. At a “Make Health Tech Great Again” event at the White House in July 2025, companies including Amazon, Apple, Google, Anthropic and OpenAI pledged to support a digital overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system, with CMS introducing voluntary interoperability criteria designed to work across EHRs, tech platforms and health information networks.
CMS said it planned to roll out the first phase of its interoperability framework in early 2026, with future components including AI-powered care navigation tools, upgrades to Medicare Plan Finder and a digital health app library. Eleven major health systems, including Cleveland Clinic, Intermountain Health, and Bon Secours Mercy Health in Cincinnati, committed to promoting patient adoption of new digital tools as part of the effort.
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