Trump visit sparks protests at Pittsburgh AI summit
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Protesters march down Forbes Avenue ahead of President Trump's visit to CMU. Photo: Chrissy Suttles/Axios
President Trump's visit to Pittsburgh's Energy and Innovation Summit ignited protests from critics who objected to his administration's policies and Carnegie Mellon's role in the event.
The big picture: At a "Stop the Summit" rally near campus, CMU students and faculty criticized the university for hosting Trump, citing his administration's research funding cuts, international students' visa revocations and probes into diversity programs.
- Roughly 1,500 CMU students and staff signed a petition last week urging CMU to reconsider hosting.
- At a "Good Trouble Lives On" march hosted by Indivisible Pittsburgh along Forbes Avenue, activists denounced the Trump administration's policies on Medicaid, SNAP, LGBTQ+ care and immigration.
Zoom in: Others voiced concerns about the potential environmental impact of energy-intensive data center buildout, including increased fracking and water use. Some worried efforts to lure tech giants and ramp up office development in the city will drive up housing costs and squeeze out lower-income renters.
Friction point: "Good Trouble" marchers had a tense standoff with Pittsburgh police in riot gear at Forbes and Craig, where streets were closed. Protesters chanted, "Shame on you, CMU," "Dump Trump" and anti-police slogans for more than an hour.
- Pittsburgh police used "quick bursts" of pepper spray on a crowd of about two dozen people as the summit ended and after most protesters had dispersed.
- Officers said the group blocked the street, resisted dispersal orders, and pulled an officer into the crowd; no arrests are expected, and no other issues were reported, per Pittsburgh Public Safety.
Catch up quick: Trump and Sen. Dave McCormick on Tuesday announced $90 billion in private-sector investments in a larger plan to boost data center development across Pennsylvania, promising tens of thousands of new jobs.
What they're saying: Carrie McDonough, an associate professor of chemistry at CMU, said Trump's research funding cuts — and reductions to agencies like the NIH — will stall progress on finding treatments and cures for chronic, often disabling, diseases like her own multiple sclerosis.
- "We here at CMU are struggling with all of this on our campus," McDonough said. "Our hard work has been disrupted; our projects have been terminated. My own projects have been terminated, yet Trump thinks he's welcome here."
The other side: CMU President Farnam Jahanian, in an open letter, called the summit a chance to advance the university's mission, noting CMU has taken legal action and otherwise pushed back against Trump administration policies the university has disagreed with.
- "Universities must remain places where divergent perspectives can be expressed freely and peacefully," he said.