Supporters of President Trump have expressed their discontent and disbelief following reports that the administration is intent on creating a national database containing the personal information of U.S. citizens, in partnership with the technology company Palantir.
The alleged agreement follows talks between the Colorado-based company, the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the Department of Education.
The negative reaction from Trump supporters reflects growing unease in conservative circles, indicating a rare rift between the president and key segments of his electorate. The controversy underscores nationwide concerns about privacy, civil liberties and the growing influence of technology companies on the management of personal information. Opponents of the project have compared it to the surveillance initiatives of authoritarian regimes.
Nick Fuentes, a far-right Trump supporter described by various insiders as a white nationalist in the “America First” movement, called the Trump administration’s association with Palantir the ultimate betrayal of its own people.
“Feeding every ‘MAGA extremist’ into an AI database controlled by a CIA/Mossad cutout,” Fuentes said on X, “Seriously, if Palantir isn’t the deep state, then what is?”
“They are tracking everybody that criticized Israel-he added- everybody that interacts with somebody that’s criticizing Israel, and whether you’re on a visa or not, whether you’re a citizen or not, whether you’re brown or not, Christian or Muslim, they’re putting you in the Palantir database. They’re putting you on the enemies list.”
“The situation is unreal,” other Trump supporters wrote on social media, ”we voted for him, but this is simply unacceptable.”
Palantir has been awarded more than $1 billion in federal contracts since Trump’s inauguration, including a recent $795 million deal with the Defense Department, according to The New Republic. Its data analytics platform, Foundry, has already been deployed at the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services, potentially enabling cross-agency information sharing.
“Shady, centralized dossiers on citizens are foundational for attacking civil rights and civil liberties—but paper files have long been replaced by a mishmash of electronic forms, biometrics, and data bought off data brokers,” Cody Venzke, senior policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), told Newsweek on Monday.
“AI platforms like those built by Palantir-he added- are the key to pulling together the many data points the government has on each of us—your political donations, governmental benefits, movements, and perhaps firearm records, could someday be a single click away for dozens of governmental agencies.”
Information about U.S. citizens will be uploaded to the database, covering their tax returns, school debts, bank accounts, health care claims, and immigration status.
