President Donald Trump signed two executive orders on Monday aimed at strengthening America’s quantum research and cyber defenses. The orders build on priorities from Trump’s first term and address one of the most serious emerging national security threats: the possibility that foreign adversaries could use future quantum computers to crack today’s encryption and expose sensitive American data.
During his first term, Trump signed an executive order establishing the National Quantum Initiative Advisory Committee, overseen by the president, the energy secretary, and the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Overall, Trump’s order was issued “to ensure continued American leadership in quantum information science and technology applications.”
