Trump appears confused about 6G during White House roundtable meeting with tech leaders
WASHINGTON, DC: At the White House business roundtable with tech and industry leaders, President Donald Trump appeared visibly out of step with the latest network technology as he reacted to the mention of 6G.
Rather than recognising it as a next generation of cellular network, Trump asked whether it was meant to give a deeper view of someone’s skin.
Trump on 6G: "What does that do? Give you a little bit deeper view into somebody's skin? See how perfect it is? I like the cameras the old days." pic.twitter.com/eeZstXDB8w
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 10, 2025
Trump meets tech leaders for 6G discussion
On Wednesday, December 10, the 79-year-old president met with business leaders at the White House, including Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon, Dell CEO Michael Dell, and IBM CEO Arvind Krishna.
Amon, who led his company’s 4G and 5G efforts, thanked Trump and his administration for working to “accelerate” the rollout of 6G—the sixth generation of cellular networks.
But Trump seemed to show no awareness of his administration’s 6G initiatives and even less understanding of the technology.
“So we’re into 6G now, oosh,” he said. “I was a leader on 5G, getting that down. And now they’re up to six.”
Trump shows confusion over 6G
The president tried to make sense of the new generation of technology, but landed far off the mark.
“What does that do? Give you a little bit deeper view into somebody’s skin? See how perfect it is,” he said. The odd comment drew a few giggles from the tech moguls in the room.
“I like the cameras from the old days. Sort of just had a nice feature,” reminisced the grandfather of 11, before glancing at Dell and getting sidetracked. “Now they cover every little—let’s see, Michael, you’re in good shape.”
He added, “But I tell you it’s, uhh, so six is coming, huh. Does it ever end, and what happens? You’ll be into seven, before six gets old, you’ll be into seven.”
Future of 6G and Trump's previous push for 5G
I want 5G, and even 6G, technology in the United States as soon as possible. It is far more powerful, faster, and smarter than the current standard. American companies must step up their efforts, or get left behind. There is no reason that we should be lagging behind on.........
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 21, 2019
6G is expected to be commercially available by the early 2030s, and the new generation of cellular networks will build on 5G and promise faster download speeds, lower latency, and better energy efficiency.
Trump pushed for 5G developments during his first term, which began rolling out in 2018.
And despite his apparent confusion about the technology, he tweeted in 2019, “I want 5G, and even 6G, technology in the United States as soon as possible. It is far more powerful, faster, and smarter than the current standard. American companies must step up their efforts, or get left behind. There is no reason that we should be lagging behind on.........”
