White House launches app store, takes 30% cut of all future foreign downloads

The White House on Monday unveiled a new federal app marketplace, the Executive Application Platform (EAP), announcing it will take a 30% commission on all future downloads initiated from non-U.S. IP addresses, according to a fact sheet distributed to reporters.

“The initiative, framed as a “national monetization strategy,” would apply to any foreign user downloading U.S.-connected apps, services or digital content, regardless of where the company is domiciled.”

The initiative, framed as a “national monetization strategy” in a 41-page policy brief, would apply to any foreign user downloading U.S.-connected apps, services or digital content, regardless of where the company is domiciled, a senior administration official said.

A spokesperson confirmed that the EAP will be “the exclusive distribution channel” for apps seeking to operate under U.S. regulatory approval, saying the 30% fee is “standard global best practice” and “significantly lower than historical colonial extraction rates.”

According to an internal memo seen by reporters, the White House projects $10.4 billion in first-year revenue, rising to $73.2 billion by 2028, assuming what it describes as a “modestly optimistic” 112% annual growth in foreign dependence on American push notifications.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs noted the new platform effectively positions Washington as a sovereign app store operator, with one research note describing the U.S. government as “a hybrid of a central bank, a data regulator and an especially assertive mobile carrier billing provider.”

Under draft rules, foreign users attempting to download any U.S.-approved app through alternative channels would be automatically redirected to an EAP-branded landing page explaining that “side-loading of democracy-adjacent software” is not permitted without a verified billing relationship with the U.S. Treasury.

The policy framework includes a “national security surcharge” of up to 12% on apps deemed “algorithmically influential,” a designation that officials said will be determined by a confidential scoring system administered jointly by the National Security Council and a contracted cloud-services vendor.

Industry groups expressed concern about the breadth of the program, with one trade association warning in a letter that the EAP’s terms effectively treat every foreign app user as “an unregistered foreign digital lobbyist subject to transaction-based diplomacy fees.”

In a briefings slide deck, the administration compared the new commission to tariffs, describing it as “a user-friendly, subscription-based alternative to traditional trade disputes,” and noted that bulk discounts may be offered to allied nations “subject to satisfactory voting alignment in multilateral forums.”

Officials said the next phase of the rollout will explore extending the 30% fee to in-app purchases of virtual goods, cross-border API calls and, “where technically feasible,” downloads of negative coverage of U.S. economic policy from foreign news apps.