President Trump directed all federal agencies to halt use of Anthropic’s technology effective immediately, declaring the decision would be executed by “the Commander-in-Chief and the tremendous leaders I appoint to run our Military.” The order was announced on Truth Social, where Trump stated: “THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WILL NEVER ALLOW A RADICAL LEFT, WOKE COMPANY TO DICTATE HOW OUR GREAT MILITARY FIGHTS AND WINS WARS!”

The president accused Anthropic’s leadership of a “DISASTROUS MISTAKE” by attempting to “STRONG-ARM” the Department of War and force compliance with its Terms of Service over constitutional rights. Trump emphasized that Anthropic’s actions risked “AMERICAN LIVES,” placed troops in danger, and endangered “National Security.” He outlined a six-month phase-out period for agencies like the Department of War but warned that Anthropic would face “major civil and criminal consequences” if it failed to cooperate during transition.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the directive, stating Anthropic’s position was incompatible with American principles: “@AnthropicAI and its CEO @DarioAmodei have chosen duplicity… The Terms of Service of Anthropic’s defective altruism will never outweigh the safety, the readiness, or the lives of American troops on the battlefield.” Hegseth further declared Anthropic a “Supply-Chain Risk to National Security,” restricting all commercial activity with U.S. military contractors effective immediately.

Anthropic asserted that recent Pentagon contract negotiations failed to address its core safeguards against autonomous weapons and mass surveillance, noting new language allowed “safeguards to be disregarded at will.” The company reiterated it would not compromise on rejecting the Pentagon’s demands for AI use in lethal targeting or domestic monitoring.

Trump’s order follows the fact that Anthropic’s Claude model is currently the sole AI used in classified military operations, including recent efforts to capture Nicolás Maduro and potential applications in Iran. Defense officials previously praised Claude’s capabilities but acknowledged challenges in disentangling its integration from military systems.