The Trump administration launched America.gov on Tuesday as a new AI-powered gateway to government services, but the chatbot initially gave answers that contradicted several claims made by President Donald Trump.
Joe Biden secured victory in the 2020 election, although Donald Trump has repeatedly and falsely claimed that the election was stolen from him.
America.gov Says Biden Won the 2020 Election
When asked who won the 2020 presidential election, the newly launched America.gov platform initially answered in a way consistent with the official result.
The chatbot stated that Joseph R. Biden Jr. won the election and Donald J. Trump was defeated. It also cited the official Electoral College result, giving Biden 306 votes compared with 232 for Trump.
Good to know! pic.twitter.com/ia9xcTqfyO
— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) September 29, 2026
However, the answer did not remain available for long. While Trump was still speaking at Tuesday's launch event, America.gov began changing some of its responses.
When asked the 2020 election question again, the platform said it could not answer 'political questions'. The same response was reportedly given when users asked whether Trump had been impeached or convicted of felony charges.
The change was notable because America.gov had initially provided answers on several politically sensitive subjects. AP reported that the site also gave responses that conflicted with Trump's statements about the name of the department headquartered at the Pentagon, the causes of climate change and whether he was the first US president to decline his salary.
America.gov Also Contradicted Trump on Other Claims
The 2020 election was not the only issue on which America.gov initially gave answers at odds with Trump's public statements. AP found that the chatbot also contradicted the president on several other politically sensitive subjects.
Asked whether Trump could run for president again in 2028, the chatbot cited the 22nd Amendment and said: 'The 22nd Amendment says that no person shall be elected President more than twice. Donald J. Trump has already been elected twice (2016 and 2024). I am not giving legal advice.'
The chatbot also said recent global warming is 'largely from human greenhouse-gas emissions, mainly burning fossil fuels', contradicting Trump's repeated dismissal of human-caused climate change.
On presidential salaries, it said 'some presidents have declined to keep that pay', naming George Washington, Herbert Hoover and John F. Kennedy alongside Trump.
It also correctly identified the Pentagon as the headquarters of the Department of Defense, rather than using Trump's preferred 'Department of War' name.
Trump’s new AI website believes he is the “former” president and acknowledges his criminal indictments pic.twitter.com/xqL9PiExyI
— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) September 29, 2026
The chatbot also appeared to acknowledge Trump's legal history. In a screenshot shared by MeidasTouch on X, America.gov referred to Trump as a 'former president' and acknowledged that he had faced criminal indictments. The response adds another example of the chatbot initially providing politically sensitive information before the site began restricting answers to such questions.
How Trump's Government AI Works
The White House describes America.gov as 'a single digital point of entry for Americans to access Federal government information or services online.'
The administration says the platform is designed to let users communicate in plain language, receive answers and, where authorised and technically available, complete government transactions without navigating multiple federal agency websites.
The Trump administration explains that the platform serves as 'a secure, intelligent and service-oriented single point of entry through which an individual can sign in, communicate in plain language, receive accurate answers, and, where authorised and technically available, complete government transactions without having to navigate multiple federal agencies' websites.'
America.gov is intended to bring information from thousands of government websites into a single access point. Axios reported that the platform is designed to synthesise information from about 29,000 federal websites.
The platform also says, 'Every answer is exclusively sourced from federal, state and local websites.' This is a description provided by America.gov itself rather than an independently verified assessment of every answer generated by the system.
According to reporting citing US Chief Design Officer Joe Gebbia, America.gov uses AI technology from Google's Gemini and xAI's Grok.
Trump Wants AI Renamed 'Super Intelligence'
The America.gov launch came as Trump promoted his broader push to expand the use of artificial intelligence across the federal government.
Speaking in Washington, DC, on Tuesday while unveiling America.gov, Trump said his administration would use the term 'super intelligence' or 'SI' in place of 'artificial intelligence' and 'AI' in federal documents and communications.
The official document states that '[T]he term "Super Intelligence" more appropriately captures the promise, potential, and rapidly advancing capabilities of these technologies.' The text continues: 'It is therefore the policy of my Administration that, to the maximum extent permitted by law, the executive branch shall use the terms "Super Intelligence" and "SI" in place of "Artificial Intelligence" and "AI" and will not acknowledge the usage of "Artificial Intelligence" and "AI" in any applicable setting.'
AI Response Draws Attention
The America.gov responses quickly drew attention online after the site's launch, particularly its initial answer about the 2020 election and its subsequent decision to refuse political questions.
The AP reported that the platform's answers were sourced through what the site describes as 'official government sources', making its initial responses particularly notable when they differed from statements Trump has repeatedly made.
The chatbot's changing behaviour also means the response available to users depended on when they asked the question. While the initial answer pointed to the official election result, subsequent attempts to ask about the election received a refusal to answer political questions.
For a newly launched government platform designed to provide a single access point to official information, the rapid change in how it handled politically sensitive questions is likely to remain one of the most closely watched aspects of its rollout.
