Well, the ‘Trump show’ is over…

Or the British episode anyway!

The other week, Donald Trump and Melania swept into Britain for a State visit with their entourage.

In the space of a few days he dined at Windsor Castle, posed with the King and Queen, then shambled into Chequers for talks with Keir Starmer.

The pair announced something called the ‘Tech Prosperity Deal’, a transatlantic pact on AI, quantum computing and nuclear power.

Billions of dollars were promised to flow both ways across the Atlantic.

Cue handshakes, photo ops, and the obligatory press conference.

Then he was gone.

Now, I know a lot of people who get so angry about Trump that they just turned off the news and waited until it was over.

But even if you were paying attention to the circus..

It was a lacklustre series of platitudes, passive-aggressive warnings and deals that probably won’t affect your life.

So you might be tempted to switch off, too.

The USA is struggling with its reputation on the world stage, with new rivals for global dominance.

While Trump’s erratic behaviour and trade tariffs have knocked the stock markets about (although offering great opportunities for swing traders and crypto-traders.)

But there’s a very good reason to pay attention to the USA, despite everything.

As I pointed out in an email last year, “when America sneezes, the UK catches a cold.”

And this well-worn phrase is still true…

So many cultural, commercial and technological trends start in the USA, only to hit our shores months, or even years later.

At the time I recommended some ways to track American trends via social media platforms like X, reddit, Facebook and LinkedIn… along with a tactic for spotting new product trends on Amazon.com.

But now there are ways to use AI to spot and follow emerging trends from across the pond.

Let’s start with the free or low-cost methods.

AI ChatBot Approach

A year ago, tools like ChatGPT were trained on old data from before 2023, with no grasp of what was happening in the world today.

If you asked it what was trending it would just invent something!

But things have shifted very fast.

Most of the big players – ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity – now have real-time web access.

They can scan news, forums, and search trends, then give you summaries with links.

Tools like Perplexity even show you the citations and sources, so you know 100% that it’s not just guessing.

You can ask: “What’s spiking on Reddit this week in U.S. fitness communities?”

And it would reply:

This week, trending themes in U.S. fitness Reddit communities include viral encouragement stories, active discussions on workout routines, and community vent threads focused on both motivation and frustration.

Stories highlighting gym kindness and body positivity have resonated, with a viral example of a fitness coach who received uplifting support from an older gym-goer during a tough mental week, sparking a conversation about the real value of strength and the importance of changing fitness narratives away from appearance-focused standards.

Then it would give you specific topics with links to the conversation on Reddit.

Or you could ask, “Which supplements are trending on Amazon reviews in September 2025?”

Perplexity would answer:

Trending supplements on Amazon U.S. for September 2025, based on reviews and product data, include a mix of wellness-focused, performance-enhancing, and beauty-supporting products. Gummy formats for everything from turmeric to multivitamins are seeing rapid growth, with consumers also keen on adaptogens, collagen, and mental wellness support supplements.

Then it might could give you a list of the ‘Top Trending Supplement Categories’ for example:

Gummies: Turmeric gummies, collagen gummies, and multivitamin gummies are experiencing high demand due to taste, ease of use, and convenience. Turmeric gummies, in particular, are highlighted as a best-seller with thousands of ratings and a strong average review score.

Or you could try: “What content marketing hashtags are growing fastest on TikTok?”

Then you’d get…

**#ContentMarketing: Remains a staple for marketers sharing tips, campaign results, and behind-the-scenes strategies; its usage is increasingly paired with video explainers and quick tutorials.

**#DigitalMarketing: Highly active as brands optimize short-form content strategies and collaborate with creators. It is being used in viral marketing challenge formats and mini-case studies.

**#MarketingTips, #Marketing101, #MarketingStrategy: These knowledge-based hashtags are growing rapidly, as viewers look for quick, actionable insights and creators post serial educational content.

In each case, you can go to the link for the source to verify the info and find out more.

You can also switch over to ChatGPT and ask it to create a report into any specific trends you spot.

For example: “Please run a deep research report on gummies for nutrition and health, including the latest trends and products in the USA.”

Then you’d get a full marketing report like this:

So the latest AI chatbots can now act as your research team, sifting through the internet, including Amazon and social media, to give you the lowdown.

Instead of passively scrolling social feeds (and getting distracted by clickbait or falling down rabbit holes), AI can summarise trends, spot patterns, compare sources, and give you ready-made research reports.

Here are some prompt ideas:

• “Give me the top emerging topics in [industry / niche] being discussed on [platform] in the last 30 days.]
• “List unusual or fast-growing search terms, memes, or cultural shifts in U.S. social media in [FIELD OR INDUSTRY] that haven’t yet hit mainstream news.”
• “Analyse the growth potential of [trend]. Who is it appealing to? How saturated is it? What are possible business models around it?”
• “What are the fastest-rising new products or cultural trends in the U.S. this week?”

One clever trick is to pit the AIs against each other.

Ask the same question in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity.

If the same three ideas show up across the board, you’ve probably found a solid trend.

If only one tool flags something, dig deeper, as it could be an error or blip.

The Pro Tool Approach

You could also test out one of the many tools for research that are now on the market…

• Trendtracker.ai – This AI tool is for spotting ‘weak signals’ before they become mainstream. It clusters new ideas, shows how mature they are, and lets you filter by industry. However you need to book a demo with one of their team and they don’t list their prices on the site.
• Trendalytics – good for product-driven trends, and heavy on U.S. data, so it’s a good way to see what products are booming stateside before they hit the UK. However, this also requires you to book a demo. That said, you can sign up for a weekly trend newsletter on the website.
• Trend Hunter’s AI – I’d told you about the website ‘Trend Hunter’ before. Their new AI features mean you can take a shortcut and ask its AI to scan its data for consumer trends in the U.S. market and it will give you tailored reports. However it’s pricy at $199/month.
• MeetGlimpse.com – a tool that tracks what people are actually searching, talking about and using online. There’s a free version of this you can try.

If you’re really serious about getting into some deep research for a major project – or you are already making money in your business – then consider these.

Otherwise, I recommend you use the AI chatbot approach using their in-built real-time web-search tools.

Whatever crazy stuff happens in Trump’s America, it’s still a great idea to keep an eye on it.

If you turn your AI research into a weekly habit, you never know what you might spot!

A future UK bestseller could be ripe for the picking.