WASHINGTON — The Trump administration plans to launch America.gov on Tuesday, a new federal website that a White House official described as “a new front door for the federal government” meant to pull together information now scattered across dozens of agency sites.
The launch is set for an all-day event at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, with President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance expected to take part, according to reports from Fox News Digital, which first reported the plan Thursday, and Bloomberg.
The site is already up, but only as a placeholder. On Saturday, America.gov showed nothing but a countdown clock, and the page code sets the clock to run out at 10 a.m. Eastern on Tuesday, Sept. 29.
What the White House is promising
A White House official told Fox News Digital the new tool will provide “a one-stop shop for Americans looking for information and resources from the federal government that are currently spread over a maze of various agency websites.” Fox described America.gov as an artificial intelligence tool. Bloomberg, citing a White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the site is meant to help Americans reach federal information and resources that are now spread across many agencies.
The administration has not yet said which services people will be able to complete on the site, how any AI features will work, or what data the site will collect. Catawba First News will check those details once the site goes live.
The project is being led by Joe Gebbia, the Airbnb co-founder who serves as U.S. chief design officer and heads the White House’s National Design Studio.
“How do you make it easy to just access government?” Gebbia told Fox News Digital, describing the problem the site is meant to solve. He called Tuesday “a new chapter of usability for the country.”
Trump created the National Design Studio and the chief design officer post by executive order on Aug. 21, 2025, under an initiative called “America by Design.” The order says the government “has lagged behind in usability and aesthetics” and tells agency heads to work with the chief design officer, with first results due by July 4, 2026. The studio’s own website says Americans lose more than 10 billion hours a year dealing with their government, and it lists earlier projects including TrumpRx and Trump Accounts.
Who is expected
Invitation materials obtained by CBS News bill the day as a showcase of the “people, ideas and innovations building America’s Golden Age.” They list a morning address by Trump, followed by afternoon panels on artificial intelligence, energy, space and other topics. Fox reported the panels will also cover health and agriculture.
In a note printed on the invitation, Trump promised guests “an unprecedented innovation from the White House — one that will forever change how your government recognizes you, respects your time, and serves you,” according to CBS.
According to those reports, expected guests include SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Anthropic co-founder Tom Brown and Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. Fox also listed Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz.
CBS reported that a dinner and afterparty tied to the event are sponsored by a group called Horizon Events. The invitation says those parts are not official White House functions and are not paid for with government money.
The launch also comes as Washington argues over how tightly to regulate advanced AI. Some executives at frontier AI companies have called for slowing development, while Huang and others say many warnings are overblown, CBS reported.
Why it matters here
For Catawba County residents, the real test is simple: whether America.gov actually shortens the path to the federal help people already look for, such as Social Security, Medicare, veterans’ benefits, passports and tax questions, or just adds one more website on top of the ones that already exist. The administration has promised speed and simplicity. Tuesday will be the first chance to check.
Earlier coverage: Catawba First News has not previously covered America.gov. Related: AI-native robots are coming for the factory floor — and Catawba is already building the plants · Jackson seeks separate Duke rate class so data centers pay their share
Source note
America.gov countdown page, checked Sept. 26, 2026 (https://america.gov). Fox News Digital, “Trump to usher in ‘golden age’ of American tech with DC bash showcasing powerful new tool,” Sept. 25, 2026 (https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-usher-golden-age-american-tech-dc-bash-showcasing-powerful-new-tool), shared on the Fox News Politics Facebook page. CBS News, “Trump to headline ‘Golden Age’ event with top officials, tech executives,” Sept. 24, 2026 (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-golden-age-event-tech-executives-elon-musk-jensen-huang-ai/). Bloomberg, “Tech, AI Leaders to Join Trump for Launch of Government Website,” Sept. 25, 2026 (https://news.bloomberglaw.com/artificial-intelligence/tech-ai-leaders-to-join-trump-for-launch-of-government-website). White House, Executive Order 14338, “Improving Our Nation Through Better Design,” Aug. 21, 2025 (https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/08/improving-our-nation-through-better-design/). National Design Studio (https://ndstudio.gov).
Cover: President Donald Trump and Elon Musk in the Oval Office, May 30, 2025. Official White House photo by Daniel Torok, public domain.
