Commercial sees AI Trump describe Fannie as the 'protector of the American Dream'
President Donald Trump authorized the use of artificial intelligence to clone his voice for a new Fannie Mae advertisement.
The one-minute ad, which aired Sunday, features an AI-generated version of Trump’s voice promoting housing reform and calling Fannie Mae the “protector of the American Dream.” A disclaimer in the video says the voice was created with permission from the Trump administration, though the company that cloned the president’s voice remains unidentified. ElevenLabs, the AI firm that helped First Lady Melania Trump voice her memoir, told AP on Sunday it did not generate the audio.
The episode comes as the Trump administration pursues an aggressive energy strategy aimed at supporting the country’s growing AI infrastructure needs. On Friday, administration officials called for an emergency power auction to accelerate the construction of large-scale power plants, according to Bloomberg.
“We’ve got to build baseload power plants to keep the lights on, to keep our homes warm and to power our economy,” interior secretary Doug Burgum said at a White House event Friday. The administration’s fact sheet said baseload generation includes coal, natural gas, and nuclear power, notably excluding renewable energy.
The surge in power demand is being driven largely by data centres needed for AI operations, along with new factories and broader electrification. An emergency auction could support $15 billion in new plants, adding as much as 7.5 gigawatts of capacity, according to a Jefferies report.
However, building the administration’s preferred power sources faces significant obstacles. No US coal plant has been built in more than a decade, and no developers have announced large-scale nuclear projects since the last new reactor came in billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule, Bloomberg reported.
Gas plants present their own challenges. Average lead times for US gas plants grew from 3.5 years to 5 years between 2023 and 2025, according to research cited by Bloomberg. Construction costs for combined-cycle gas plants rose about 49% over the same period.
“The key limits are the turbine market and the people who actually build these things,” Evercore analyst Nicholas Amicucci told Bloomberg. “Siting and permitting are a mess.”
Turbine manufacturer GE Vernova has sold out through 2028 and is now taking orders for 2029, Bloomberg reported.
