President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at improving ways to identify and treat pediatric cancers using artificial intelligence. (Bonnie Cash/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
FATHER LEADS INTERNATIONAL EFFORT TO FIND A CURE FOR SON’S BRAIN TUMOR
The president signed the order surrounded by children, many who have survived cancer themselves.
The president said that in signing the order the U.S. is adding another $50 million to the Childhood Cancer Data Initiative.
"I'm also directing the federal government to fully utilize artificial intelligence to supercharge pediatric cancer research," Trump said. "It's pretty amazing what's happening."
The president added, "I want to just say that we're going to defeat childhood cancer once and for all."
Trump’s initiative in his first term establishing the Childhood Cancer Data Initiative has laid the groundwork for utilizing AI to administer clinical research and patient care to address pediatric cancers in the U.S., according to the White House.
The effort has collected a host of information over the years, including tracking molecular characteristics and genetic information of childhood cancers that has already been organized in a "vast" database. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
The executive order also will bolster funding for the Childhood Cancer Data Initiative, which is housed within the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
"It’s a $50 million investment in the immediate future that we're announcing today. But there will be more investments to come as we start to implement this" executive order, a White House official told reporters.
As a result, the executive order also will be a funding call for research proposals related to the application of AI in childhood cancers, the official said.
"This is just a tremendous kind of application area where we have existing data sets, a lot of existing work that's been done over the past six years in this area," a White House official said. "And it's something that's ripe for both scientific exploration and direct impact to the lives of these children."
DETAILS OF TRUMP'S HIGHLY ANTICIPATED AI PLAN REVEALED BY WHITE HOUSE AHEAD OF MAJOR SPEECH
The White House is seen the day after President Donald Trump announced U.S. military strikes on nuclear sites in Iran on June 22, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Kevin Carter/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s budget request calls for cutting funding from $7.2 billion to $4.5 billion for the National Cancer Institute within the National Institutes of Health for fiscal year 2026.
However, the White House pushed back on characterizations that the administration was seeking to cut cancer research funding, and said the budget for the next fiscal year is "still being worked out."
Government funding is set to expire at midnight — or else a lapse in funding will trigger a government shutdown.
Pediatric cancer is the leading cause of death by disease after infancy in children, according to the National Cancer Institute. However, survival rates are on the rise.
The five-year survival rate for children between the ages of zero to 19 years old is currently more than 83%, up from the 1970s rates of 58% for children aged 14 and under and 68% for children between the ages of 15 and 19, according to the agency.
Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-signs-executive-order-harness-ai-fight-against-childhood-cancers