Trump’s Next Push: Humanoid Robots and Industrial Strategy
President Trump’s national industrial agenda is sharpening focus on the technologies that will drive American power into the 2030s, including semiconductors, AI, rare earths, clean energy, space, and advanced manufacturing. The administration has already prioritized AI data centers and grid upgrades, and now attention has turned to robotics, especially humanoid machines. This is being framed as an effort to secure supply chains and keep high-value production on U.S. soil.
Technocratic accelerationists in Washington are steering policy toward rapid industrial change after the Genesis Mission executive order that opened broad support for the AI industry. Now, insiders expect a follow-on executive order aimed at speeding robotics development and manufacturing, with a particular eye on humanoid robots. Commerce leadership is prominently involved while private industry races to scale hardware.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has been meeting with senior executives across the tech sector and is reportedly considering an executive order early next year to boost domestic development and production of humanoid robots. At the same time, the Department of Transportation is setting up a robotics working group to coordinate policy and standards across agencies. Those moves reflect an across-the-government push to align federal tools with private-sector manufacturing plans.
Timing matters because major firms are already signaling a rapid scale-up in production. Tesla has been linked to plans to scale Optimus production toward one million units by the end of next year, a volume that would be unprecedented in the robotics era. There are also reports of large purchases of key components from overseas suppliers, which underscores both the demand and the fragile supply-chain dynamics.
A Department of Commerce spokesperson told the outlet: “We are committed to robotics and advanced manufacturing because they are central to bringing critical production back to the United States.”
Administration officials describe this as part of a broader national industrial strategy designed to preserve American leadership in transformative technologies. The goal is to pair strategic federal incentives and standards with private investment so production, research, and skilled jobs remain competitive domestically. That approach treats robotics not just as an innovation story but as a national security and economic resilience priority.
Policy discussions on the Hill are already active, with Republicans pushing for structures to coordinate a national approach to robotics and related technologies. There was a proposal to create a national robotics commission as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, though it did not make the final bill. Lawmakers continue to explore legislative options that could complement executive actions.
There’s growing interest on Capitol Hill as well. A Republican amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act would have created a national robotics commission. The amendment was not included in the bill. Other legislative efforts are underway.
For industry, the combination of potential executive action and congressional proposals creates a predictable market signal: invest in scale, talent, and supply chains now or cede advantage to others. For policymakers, the test will be balancing rapid deployment with oversight on safety, workforce impacts, and export controls. The next few months will make clear whether this becomes a coherent industrial policy or a patchwork of competing initiatives.