The chatbot Donald Trump launched to answer Americans' questions about their government contradicted him on several of his favourite claims, and then, while he was still speaking, stopped answering political questions altogether.
Trump unveiled the AI-powered America.gov on Tuesday 29 September 2026 at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, signing an executive order that establishes it as a single point of entry for federal information and services.
When the site first went live, its question-and-answer tool initially confirmed that Trump's name appears in the Epstein files, that Joe Biden won the 2020 election and that recent warming is largely driven by humans.
Within moments, according to the Associated Press, it began refusing the same questions, replying that it did not answer political inquiries.
Biden, Crowd Sizes and Hoover's Salary
The early answers ran against a series of Trump's claims. The AP reported that the tool, which says it draws on official government sources, stated that Biden won in 2020. 'Official federal sources do not show that widespread fraud changed the 2020 presidential election outcome,' it said, adding that isolated election crimes had occurred and been prosecuted.
Other replies followed the same pattern. The site said Barack Obama's 2009 inaugural crowd was larger than Trump's in 2017, and said recent warming is largely attributable to human greenhouse gas emissions, mainly from burning fossil fuels, while acknowledging natural climate variation.
This is hilarious!
— Amy Siskind (@Amy_Siskind) September 29, 2026
The Trump regime's new AI website, https://t.co/AjZjsFugcC, started to modify its answers, after initially correctly responding that Biden won the 2020 election and Obama's 2009 inaugural crowd was bigger than Trump's in 2017, to instead say it could not…
Asked which presidents had declined to keep their salaries before Trump, the chatbot listed George Washington, Herbert Hoover and John F. Kennedy. The record is more nuanced on Washington, who initially opposed being paid but accepted the salary Congress set; the National Archives identifies Hoover and Kennedy as the two presidents who gave their salaries away.
Good to know! pic.twitter.com/ia9xcTqfyO
— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) September 29, 2026
Two further answers stood out. Asked about the 22nd Amendment, the chatbot said no person may be elected president more than twice and noted that Trump had been elected in 2016 and 2024, before adding that it was not giving legal advice. Asked about the Pentagon, it said the building is the headquarters of the Department of Defense, rather than using the Department of War name Trump favours.
The Epstein answer needs context. Trump's name appears in documents the Justice Department has released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was signed into law in November 2025, but appearing in the files is not evidence of wrongdoing.
The department has itself warned that the material includes untrue and sensationalist claims about Trump submitted to the FBI. Trump has denied any wrongdoing, has not been charged with any offence connected to Epstein, and has described the controversy over the files as a Democrat hoax.
Political Questions Off the Table Mid-Speech
The change came fast. While Trump was still speaking at the launch, the chatbot began modifying its answers, Fortune reported, citing the AP. Asked again about the 2020 election, it replied that it could not answer political questions, and it gave the same response when asked whether Trump had been impeached or convicted of felony charges.
Questions about the Epstein files, climate change and inaugural crowd sizes produced the same refusal on repeat attempts. It has not been publicly explained who changed the tool's behaviour or how.
The reversal came shortly after the White House said, in its fact sheet on the launch, that Americans could ask any question on America.gov and receive an up-to-date answer. Trump called the launch revolutionary.
A Model the Chatbot Won't Name
The chatbot interface does not publicly identify a specific AI model.
Asked to explain itself, it replied that it does not publish the name of a specific AI model and instead uses AI to search official government sources and explain them with citations. FedScoop reported, based on remarks by the chief design officer Joe Gebbia, that Google's Gemini and xAI's Grok are reportedly used behind the scenes.
The site's privacy notice is brief. It tells users to share only what is needed, says the service may use approximate location, states that its AI providers do not retain users' prompts or responses, and says America.gov may cache responses for up to two hours using a hash of the prompt rather than the prompt itself, according to FedScoop.
The executive order sets a wider ambition than the chatbot. It directs the General Services Administration, the National Design Studio and the Office of Management and Budget to build America.gov into the main front door for covered federal services, with further integration to follow over time.
For a short time on launch day, the government's own chatbot told the public what federal records say, and before the president had finished speaking it had stopped.
