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US can’t cut China off completely, but must defend AI and American innovation from nonstop theft: Sen Rounds
SIMI VALLEY, CALIFORNIA – China’s rampant theft of intellectual property from American institutions and industry must be thwarted as the U.S. battles to remain the world’s economic and military leader – but America cannot completely decouple from the economic behemoth, Republican South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview.
The key, according to Rounds, is maintaining China as a key trade partner without giving them access to America’s technology, including artificial intelligence and computer chips.
«In doing so, maybe we’ll restrict their ability to actually be able to have a market that they can create their own stuff with. They’ll be using ours. And in using ours, they’ll be our standards,» Rounds told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library during the Reagan National Economic Forum on Friday in California.
«Let’s not necessarily just totally divest. Let’s see if we can have an influence on them and the rest of the world as well when it comes to standards for AI and other technological advances in the future,» he added.
Rounds was among the conference panelists who spoke on the threats China poses as President Donald Trump addresses the country’s chronic trade deficit with foreign nations, and his optimism for the future as the U.S. sprints to remain the world’s economic and military leader.
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South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds was a panelist for the inaugural Reagan National Economic Forum in California. (Getty Images)
Rounds’ remarks focused on keeping the U.S. in the driver’s seat of the world’s economy, which he explained is deeply entwined in technological advances and bucking Chinese theft of intellectual property, while also acknowledging and combating how China has advanced into a «near-peer competitor» with the U.S. from a military standpoint.
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«We’ve got to do a better job of protecting the intellectual properties that we’ve got. The most advanced types of technologies that we have, everything we can do to slow down their connection with that, protecting against that infiltration or de-filtration of really good information that, right now, they’re stealing from us on a regular basis,» Rounds said during a panel called «China and the U.S.: When Trading Partners are also Great Power Competitors.»
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. (Fox News Digital )
He added that China has no qualms about stealing U.S. intellectual property – which is understood as intangible creations, such as patents for inventions or trade secrets such as tech algorithms. Rounds recalled a recent conversation with an ambassador to China who told him their culture does not understand «how someone can own an idea.»
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced last Wednesday that the U.S. will begin «aggressively» revoking visas of Chinese students, most notably those with ties to the Chinese Communist Party who are trained at U.S. schools, but return to China or feed U.S. information to China.
China has stolen billions in intellectual property on an annual basis, Sen. Mike Rounds says. (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Rounds said the country needed a pause on admitting Chinese nationals with CCP ties into elite U.S. schools until an enforceable agreement is in place protecting intellectual property and processes from Chinese capture.
«We have Chinese students that come in here, and then they [maintain] ties back home. And even if they want to stay here, one of the challenges we have is that their family may very well be coerced into requiring them to come back home again. And if that’s the case, any of the knowledge that we’ve helped them to develop here goes back home with them,» Rounds said.
«Until such time as we’re able to address that, and until such time as we’re able to be assured that the information that they’re getting here, the data that they are catching here, the knowledge that they gain here isn’t going to be used against our young men and women in the future, we want to slow this down a little bit. Let’s just take a break. Let’s not be bringing in these Chinese students that have ties with the Chinese Communist Party, until we have some kind of agreement in place that is enforceable,» he said.
South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds was a panelist for the inaugural Reagan National Economic Forum in California. (Fox News Digital )
Rounds explained during the Reagan library forum that protecting U.S. intellectual property from Chinese theft has a ripple effect on U.S. efforts to remain the world’s military leader as China seeks parity with America.
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«[China is] a strategic challenger for us on the military side. They are a near-peer competitor. And they have an advantage over us in one particular way: They are unified in terms of when Xi Jinping wants to move, it’s not just the government that moves, but the entire rest of their economic activity is required to move the way that he wants them to move. We don’t have that here. And so for us, we have to recognize that challenge. Now, I’m not suggesting we go the direction that they go, but we have to recognize their ability to move very, very quickly,» he said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping listens during a meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, on April 14. (AP/Minh Hoang)
The Trump administration leveled tariffs as high as 145% on Chinese goods in April, and China retaliated against the president’s «Liberation Day» policies with tariffs of its own. China and the U.S. reached a preliminary trade agreement last month, which Trump said China violated in a Truth Social post on Friday.
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«I made a FAST DEAL with China in order to save them from what I thought was going to be a very bad situation, and I didn’t want to see that happen. Because of this deal, everything quickly stabilized and China got back to business as usual. Everybody was happy! That is the good news!!! The bad news is that China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US. So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!» he wrote.
President Donald Trump speaks during the National Prayer Breakfast, Feb. 6, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Rounds explained that the U.S. is in the midst of reaching a favorable trade deal while also acknowledging China has stolen billions of dollars in intellectual property for its own advantage.
«We do, right now, really close to about a half a trillion dollars a year in economic activity with China today, but they steal about $600 billion in intellectual property on an annual basis. And so we have this dichotomy of trying to do good trade and at the same time recognizing that they’re stealing our property,» he said.
Rounds said the floodgates of accepting and leveraging AI have not yet opened in the U.S., as many Americans are still hesitant to trust the technology. In mere months and years, however, he said the health industry will see massive overhauls, aided by tech that can quickly identify cancer or diagnose diabetes and Alzheimer’s. This will lead American culture to accept AI and rally the private sector’s proliferation of it, he said.
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«I think what the American people want to see is, what’s in it for them? What improves their quality of life? I think one of the most critical issues – that would really be one of the easiest to get into – is talking about health care. And I firmly believe that Americans will see AI as a benefit to them rather than as a challenge when we start to see cures for diabetes, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and cancers. And those are all within reach,» Rounds told Fox Digital.
Rounds added during the forum that when Americans personally feel how their quality of life has improved due to AI, «that’s when we’ll really see the push across the country to develop AI at a rate that you’ve never seen before by the private sector, as well.»
«That’s what’s going to keep us ahead of China,» he said.
Red flags flutter in front of the Great Hall of the People on March 4, 2022, in Beijing, China. (VCG/VCG via Getty Images)
The forum at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, which is nestled in California’s Santa Susana Mountains and the Simi Hills, kicked off on Thursday evening, and featured more than a dozen discussions and panels focused on the economy, artificial intelligence, U.S. defense strategies, the energy sector and more across Friday. Banking leader Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin were among those who joined Rounds in addressing the nation’s economic health.
The Reagan library’s retired Air Force One jet is showcased in a pavilion. (Fox News Digital)
«The Reagan Library does an excellent job working on defense issues, and now they’ve also opened up a seminar basically working on economic issues critical to the United States. And so to come in here and to work with other people that care about the economic well-being of our country, this is an excellent place to do it.… So it’s an opportunity for me to really learn what’s going on and what other people are thinking about our economy in general,» Rounds told Fox Digital of the forum.
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A statue of the former president at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
The conference comes as the Senate works to pass the Big Beautiful Bill, which is a sweeping multitrillion-dollar piece of legislation that advances Trump’s agenda on taxes, immigration, energy, defense and the national debt. Rounds said the legislation must pass or Americans will see their taxes spike.
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«We don’t have a choice. We have to pass the bill to get the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act back in place on a permanent basis. If we don’t do that, the average American family is going to see about a $2,400 a year increase in their taxes. So we have to do something. And it’s critical that we pass this bill. We’re going to work with the House. We’re gonna get this deal done. The Senate will put their mark of approval on it, but nonetheless, we want to do everything we can as quickly as we can to take care of this so that we can get on to other things. The president has made it very clear he wants to get this done. We want to help in that regard. This is our job,» he said.
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Obama Presidential Center deposits just $1M into $470M reserve fund aimed to protect taxpayers
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When the Obama Foundation snagged a sweetheart deal to build its beleaguered Obama Presidential Center on a Chicago public park, it pledged to create a $470 million reserve fund to spare taxpayers should the project ever go belly up.
But new tax filings show the foundation has only deposited $1 million into the fund and has not added to it in years, with critics saying the empty promise could potentially leave Chicagoans on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars.
Under its agreement with the city, the foundation was required to create the fund, known as an endowment, in order to take control of the sprawling 19.3-acre section of Jackson Park — often described as Chicago’s Central Park equivalent — where the complex is now slowly rising.
The foundation ultimately secured the public land for just $10 in 2018, under a 99-year deal.
Former President Barack Obama is pictured next to construction of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, Illinois, a project facing delays, soaring costs and mounting scrutiny over its finances. (Scott Olson/Getty Images; REUTERS/Vincent Alban)
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But when former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama turned the sod at the site in September 2021, just $1 million — or 0.21% of the pledged funds — had been deposited into the endowment, and that figure has remained unchanged ever since.
With construction progressing at a snail’s pace and costs ballooning from an original estimate of $330 million to at least $850 million, the lack of progress on the promised endowment has fueled fears the Obama Presidential Center could leave taxpayers holding the can if finances spiral into the red.
It comes as the Obama Foundation’s latest tax return shows its finances under strain with revenue swinging wildly year to year, fundraising shortfalls and unfulfilled donor pledges.
On news that the endowment has largely remained unfunded, Illinois GOP Chair Kathy Salvi slammed the project as an «abomination» while blasting Democrats for potentially exposing taxpayers with the deal.
«It should come as no surprise that the Obama Center is potentially leaving Illinois taxpayers high and dry — it’s an Illinois Democrat tradition,» Salvi told Fox News Digital in a statement. «Democrats in this state, when not going to prison for corruption, treat taxpayers like a personal piggy bank giving sweetheart deals to their political benefactors.»
The Obama Presidential Center under construction in July. (Fox News Digital)
Scholar sounds alarm
Richard Epstein, a University of Chicago law professor emeritus and a New York University law professor, has raised concerns about the endowment for years and advised the local nonprofit Protect Our Parks with legal challenges to try to stop the Obama Center’s construction.
Epstein argues the foundation’s failure to fund its endowment confirms his long-held view that the city never should have signed over the large section of Jackson Park.
«They put a million dollars into a $400 million endowment, so it’s endowed. That gets you in jail as a securities matter,» Epstein told Fox News Digital. «An endowment means that you have the money in hand… But they have nothing. They just have the same $1 million that they put in in 2021 as far as I can tell. So I regard this as something of a public calamity.»
An endowment is a pot of money meant to earn enough interest each year to cover operating costs without touching the principle in order to avoid the taxpayer stepping in.
«Without an endowment, they’ll have to scramble every year to cover $30 million in operating costs,» Epstein said. «The whole point of an endowment is to avoid that volatility. They just haven’t endowed it. Of that I’m 100% sure.»
Epstein argues that if the foundation or center falters, the public could be saddled with traffic rerouting costs, environmental impacts, or even the bill for an incomplete building.
«Nobody knows exactly who is responsible for what if the project is abandoned or incomplete,» Epstein said. «There is a risk that the public will then have to bear that loss because the foundation won’t have the money.»
Epstein said the city has effectively looked the other way, declaring the foundation «compliant» on the endowment despite only $1 million ever being deposited. Proof, he argues, that officials never intended to enforce the requirement.
The Obama Foundation told Fox News Digital that it will be making «significant investments in the endowment in the coming years» as it has been prioritizing fundraising for the center and leadership programs.
«The Obama Presidential Center is fully funded and it will open in the spring of 2026,» a spokesperson for the foundation said.
CharityWatch, a nonprofit watchdog, told Fox News Digital that the foundation technically complied with its agreement by creating an endowment because the deal never set a dollar figure. The group also said that the foundation remains «well-funded» overall while also acknowledging the pledge risks, volatility and lack of a real endowment.
An aerial view shows construction of the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park, Chicago, Illinois, where costs have soared and questions remain about the project’s funding. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
While the foundation’s agreement with the city required it to create an endowment, it did not specify an amount. The $470 million figure was being reported on as the city council deliberated on the deal and the foundation committed to that sum in its 2020 annual report.
In 2021 documents, the foundation said that first-year operating costs would be as much as $40 million. By that math, the center would actually need an endowment of between $800 million to $1 billion to fund operations without tapping the principle.
It’s also unclear how much revenue the foundation expects to generate each year.
Epstein said the lack of funds has long been the project’s Achilles heel. Without the endowment it promised, the project’s financial underpinning remains shaky, he said.
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Despite financial pressures, the Obama Foundation has already spent about $600 million constructing the center, which aims to honor former President Barack Obama’s political career and be a civic hub. It consists of a 225-foot-tall museum, a digital library, conference facilities, a gymnasium and a regulation-sized NBA court. It will also house the Obama Foundation.
The new tax filings show the foundation ended 2024 with $116.5 million in cash, down nearly $80 million from the year before, while still owing about $234 million in construction costs. Of the funding gap, $216 million comes from firm pledges — promises of future donations — while another $201 million is tied up in conditional pledges that may never materialize if benchmarks aren’t met.
Epstein said the foundation’s financial assurances ring hollow, because a large chunk of the money it counts on is tied up in pledges and credit rather than cash in hand — leaving the center vulnerable to donor fatigue and year-to-year uncertainty.
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Public trust doctrine
In the Protect Our Parks lawsuit, Epstein argued that handing Jackson Park to the Obama Foundation violated the public trust doctrine — which bars cities from giving away public land without a clear public benefit. The plaintiffs said the city gave away land worth nearly $200 million without securing enforceable returns for taxpayers.
However, U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey, an Obama appointee, dismissed the case in 2019, ruling that the Obama Center qualified as a public use and that courts should defer to the city’s determination. The Seventh Circuit upheld the dismissal in 2020 and various other challenges by the plaintiffs have also failed on the public trust doctrine argument.
Epstein now points to the foundation’s failure to fund its promised endowment as proof the project never truly met the public benefit test and that a core part of his argument was valid.
As well as not being able to fill the endowment, the foundation is also financing a $250 million revolving credit line that it has yet to draw down but is costing the foundation hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual fees, according to the tax filings.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker (L) joins former U.S. President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama in a ceremonial groundbreaking at the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park on Sept. 28, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. At the time, around $1 million was in the endowment and it has remained relatively the same since. ( Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Easing oversight
Epstein argues the endowment shortfall is just one example of how the project has skirted safeguards.
Its 99-year deal with the city was rebranded as a «use agreement,» instead of a land lease, a legal pivot that he said let the city sidestep public-trust oversight and other regulatory checks.
The move grew out of an earlier fight over filmmaker George Lucas’s bid to build a Museum of Narrative Art on the lakefront. In 2016, a federal judge ruled the city’s plan to hand Lucas a 99-year lease of public parkland violated the public trust doctrine, sending Lucas packing for Los Angeles.
When the Obama Foundation arrived the following year, city officials adopted the new user agreement label. The terms were effectively the same — exclusive control for nearly a century in exchange for $10 — but by calling it a «use agreement,» the city claimed it no longer triggered the same scrutiny.
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Epstein called it a textbook case of bending the rules. «You can’t get out of a government regulatory relationship by changing the name on something,» he said.
Epstein said the foundation’s finances have never been fully scrutinized and his team was never allowed to examine the center’s internal records — from construction contracts to day-to-day statements — leaving the true state of its fundraising and shrouded in secrecy.
«They’ve gotten a free pass on both the environmental side and the financial side,» Epstein said. «Unless somebody cracks open the books, nobody really knows if they can actually fund this project. And if they can’t, it’s the public that will be left holding the bag.»
The offices of Mayor Brandon Johnson, Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Party of Illinois did not respond to requests for comment.
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El líder del régimen en Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, junto al ministro de Defensa, Vladimir Padrino López. Foto: EFEEstados Unidos,Venezuela,Donald Trump,Nicolás Maduro,Narcotráfico,Últimas Noticias
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Philadelphia DA goes into tirade about ‘fascist’ Trump, ‘Hitler’ when confronted at park in viral video
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Progressive Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner launched into a rant when confronted by a young Republican activist in a local park in a video that has since gone viral.
«Donald Trump is a fascist,» Krasner said during the confrontation. When prompted to elaborate on what he meant by the remark, Krasner instead deflected and continued his tirade.
«You’re un-American, Frank. You’re un-American,» Krasner repeated in the video. «You’re anti-American.»
Frank Scales, the man behind the camera, responded, «I’m a resident of this city who cares about public safety. Why are you calling me un-American?»
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Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner was seen in a viral video lambasting President Donald Trump as a «fascist.» (Matthew Hatcher/Reuters; Ken Cedeno/Reuters)
«Because you support people who support hate,» Krasner replied. «You don’t understand what it means to be a fascist, what people like Adolf Hitler do, how spreading hate, which is something that, frankly, the people you admire do, gets us closer to that.»
Krasner then got personal, saying that Scales was «a 22-year-old who knows nothing [about what] he’s talking about» and called Scales’ outlet, Surge Philly, a «fake, non-existent paper.»
«[We] went with the goal of talking to Krasner (an incumbent public servant) about why we weren’t allowed in his town hall and to understand why he calls Republicans ‘fascist.’ The idea was to have a civil conversation with Larry in a public space, but he is incapable of civil discourse,» Surge Philly said in a statement to Fox News Digital. «If there’s anything about Larry Krasner we’d like others to know, it’s that he’s a progressive district attorney funded by out-of-state billionaires to advance an agenda not in the interest of the people he serves.»
During the encounter, Krasner referenced an incident in which Scales disrupted a meeting in the city.
On Sept. 16, Scales participated in what the outlet WCAU described as a «brief disruption» during a town hall that Krasner was holding at the Salt & Life Church.
This was part of a series of talks the district attorney planned to discuss with the public the possibility of President Donald Trump deploying the National Guard to Philadelphia, as he had in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, WPVI-TV reported.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner speaks during a news conference in Philadelphia, on Jan. 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
The Trump administration has yet to announce plans to deploy the National Guard to Philadelphia. However, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said earlier this month that the state is «prepared» to respond if Trump were to send troops.
«I can tell you that we are prepared,» Shapiro said, according to WPVI. «We are prepared should they try to deploy the National Guard against my will in any community across Pennsylvania.»
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«Fascists are going to be fascists. What can I say?» Krasner said at the town hall, according to WCAU. He then went on to trash the «Pennsylvania Legislature and its MAGA members,» according to the outlet.
«The fundamental premise of the United States is supposed to be that all people are created equal. It’s a deep belief in equality,» Krasner reportedly added. «These people don’t believe in equality at all. They don’t believe in equality of folks. They don’t believe in gender equality. They’re absolutely just as hateful towards women as they are on the issue of race. These are people who agree with Adolf Hitler.»
At that moment, Scales stood up and yelled, «Lie!» He then added, «People like you are responsible for the death of Charlie Kirk. Stop calling them fascists,» according to WCAU.
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Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner speaks in Philadelphia, on Jan. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Scales spoke about the incident in a video on X, saying that he did not attend the meeting with the intention of disrupting the district attorney. It was only after he was told that questions at the town hall had to be written on cards «so they can be vetted and read by a moderator» that he determined the event was no more than a «publicity stunt.»
Two days later, on Sept. 18, Scales attempted to attend another one of Krasner’s town halls but was allegedly denied entry.
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Krasner, a vocal Trump critic, on Thursday urged officials to condemn the alleged politicization of the Justice Department, comparing it to Watergate.
«Justice requires evenhandedness and impartiality in order to function effectively. Sadly, Trump’s actions this week are another example of his toxic assault on constitutional norms,» Krasner said in a statement. «I invite other elected officials to speak up, especially local and state prosecutors, against this egregious politicization of the Justice Department. The ongoing assault on our democracy by the Trump administration is not normal and must be called out at every opportunity.»
Fox News Digital reached out to Scales and Krasner for comment.
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