Former President Donald Trump stated that American AI companies would require nuclear energy and natural gas to outpace Chinese competitors.

In an interview with Shawn Ryan on the “Shawn Ryan Show,” Trump emphasized that the expansion of natural gas and nuclear power in the U.S. is necessary to address the increasing electricity demand driven by new, power-intensive data centers essential for AI technologies.

By ensuring affordable and dependable electricity, Trump argued, American AI innovators would be better positioned to compete with and possibly surpass Chinese firms in the quest for technological supremacy.

“How are we going to compete with China in the artificial intelligence space if we don’t up our energy production? Ryan asked Trump.

Trump started his response by calling Vice President Kamala Harris a “Marxist” and expressed doubt that American tech companies could rival Chinese firms if Harris were to set U.S. energy policies.

He then discussed the significant amount of electricity generation that would be needed to support a surge in AI development, which he believes is essential for the United States to become a global leader in technology.

“If we’re not going to be the big player, then China is going to take over that industry very easily. And the problem is, we have to produce massive electricity that we don’t have. But the environmental impact statements won’t allow us to do that. The rules and regulations that we currently have won’t allow us to do any of it, not a tiny fraction of it,” Trump said.

“But if I’m president, we’ll be able to do it, and we’ll do it through natural gas — which is clean — and we’ll do it through, primarily, natural gas and nuclear. You know, nuclear now, has become very good, very safe,” Trump continued. “You build the smaller plants and you attach them. But nuclear is very powerful, very good. …. We will create tremendous electricity for our country. And that will allow AI to compete, and you’re right, whoever gets that, it’s going to be a big advantage, you know, that’s sort of going to be the oil of the future. And we have to be the main player.”