Insider Brief
- The Trump administration is embracing quantum technology as a strategic tool for national security, infrastructure protection, and space exploration, despite tensions with scientific agencies.
- Federal leaders acknowledge the importance of international alliances, talent pipelines and trusted supply chains in advancing U.S. quantum leadership, GovCIO reports.
- Agencies including DOE, DHS, and NASA are exploring quantum sensing applications for grid security, border control, and space missions, though many technologies remain in early testing phases.
Despite a combative relationship with most of the federal government’s scientific agencies in its early days, the Trump administration is staking a claim in deep tech — especially quantum technology — as a strategic asset to keep the United States globally competitive.
Federal leaders are now pushing quantum computing, sensing and communication as vital to national defense, space exploration, and the protection of critical infrastructure. A growing number of agencies are coordinating across industry, government, and international partners to develop and deploy quantum tools, GovCIO is reporting.
Strategic Partnerships Drive U.S. Quantum Push
The White House recently underscored this direction following a meeting between President Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, issuing a statement that declared mutual interest in developing future technologies, including quantum.
“As we transition to and innovate on the technologies of the future, such as 6G, AI, quantum computing and biotechnology, we also commit to exploring opportunities for enhanced partnerships in these critical industries that protect our data from adversaries that would exploit it,” the release stated.
That message was echoed by Thomas Plumb Reyes, the State Department’s Quantum Policy Coordinator, who said the administration has taken “an early and high-level interest in quantum technologies.”
“We’ve seen … that quantum needs to be a priority in the United States,” Plumb Reyes said at the 2025 Quantum.Tech conference in Washington, D.C. “The U.S. is here and ready to partner with like-minded allies built on trust and alignment of our policies in the pro-innovation direction of this administration.”
He added that achieving global quantum leadership requires more than cutting-edge labs or large research budgets—it depends on talent development, a trusted supply chain, and international coordination to prevent adversarial misuse.
“I think that international valence really goes back to the core of the National Quantum Strategy and the National Quantum Initiative that the Trump administration kick-started in 2018,” said Plumb Reyes. “We are really the stewards of those relationships. We are here to support and advance the important work that our colleagues across the federal government are doing, what is happening in industry across the United States and academia, too.”
Quantum Sensing as a Security Layer
One of the most immediate applications of quantum lies in sensing, which are technologies that can detect the tiniest changes in physical environments. These tools are being tested to secure the U.S. electric grid, which relies on semiconductor chips that could be sabotaged through fabrication defects or foreign interference.
“We want to ensure that the grid is secure and the components that go into the grid, as well as all the devices that connect with the grid, so we don’t have a malicious actor,” said Rima Kasia Oueid, Senior Commercialization Executive at the Department of Energy, as reported by GovCIO.
The Department of Homeland Security is also exploring how quantum sensors might be used by agencies like Customs and Border Protection, the Coast Guard, and the TSA. Laura Parker, a senior technology advisor at DHS’s Science and Technology Directorate, described several scenarios under consideration, from detecting cross-border tunnels used by drug cartels to tracking submarines under the ocean.
“In the Arctic … you can have a lot of ionospheric interference. [The Coast Guard] could be operating in environments where the comms isn’t that easy to use,” Parker said, explaining how quantum sensors could maintain vital communication in such harsh environments.
Exploring Quantum Potential in Orbit
The conversation around quantum is extending far beyond national borders and even Earth’s atmosphere. Both NASA and the Department of Energy are exploring how quantum tools can enhance space exploration and resource development.
Oueid said the DOE is working on space-based infrastructure for producing critical resources.
“We would not have been able to figure this out had it not been for the fact that they were doing this research in space, because microgravity allows for molecular growth to occur in much more accelerated fashion than ever can be experienced here on Earth,” said Kasia Oueid, citing the FDA’s approval last year of human clinical trials for vision proteins grown in space, as reported by GovCIO.
NASA is already considering how quantum will fit into future missions, according to Carolyn Mercer, chief technologist at NASA’s Science Directorate. For example, the Europa Clipper mission, launched in late 2024, will conduct multiple flybys of Europa, a moon of Jupiter that may harbor life beneath its icy shell.
“If we did land, we would have to figure out how to get through that ice … but also, we need to communicate whatever information we find back up through the ice and back up to an orbiter and back down to earth,” Mercer said. “We could use a superconducting quantum interference device, which is commercially available now, and maybe use that as a relay system to get that information.”
Challenges and What Comes Next
The Trump administration’s approach — rooted in bilateral and multilateral tech alliances, cross-agency investment, and a focus on securing infrastructure — signals that emerging technologies are not optional but foundational.
Still, there are significant challenges. First, quantum technology remains largely experimental. Many of the devices discussed — especially quantum sensors — are still undergoing field trials. Some applications, like quantum computing for complex modeling or communications, face hurdles related to hardware reliability, error correction and scalability.
Second, many experts point out that these leaps in quantum technologies, and other frontier techs, are powered by advances in basic sciences, ones that are being targeted by the current administration’s cost-cutters. Multidisciplinary research is intricate and requires much more thoughtful assessments for resource considerations. They suggest that only comprehensive, coordinated research and development efforts will ensure the further development and eventual commercialization of quantum.
