Trump Warns Communities Against Data Center Backlash: ‘Backwards And Poor’

President Donald Trump issued a blunt warning Monday to communities pushing back against the construction of artificial intelligence data centers, arguing that opposition to the facilities could leave communities poorer while benefiting China.

Read more Trump Faces Calls To Spend In Texas As Dems Blitz Republicans

“The only reason that communities throughout the U.S.A. should not want Data Centers is if they want to end up being backwards and poor,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “If they want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign.”

“The good news is that there are plenty of other places that want them,” Trump continued. “If we kill the Golden Goose, you will only have yourselves to blame.” Trump also invoked the central geopolitical argument behind his support for the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure, writing, “China could not be happier with this anti Data Center movement. Actually, they can’t believe it is happening!”

The president’s comments come as opposition to data centers has emerged as one of the most politically charged issues ahead of the November midterm elections. A Gallup poll conducted in March found 71% of Americans opposed building a data center in their communities, including 75% of Democrats, 63% of Republicans, and 74% of independents. A Fox News poll conducted last month similarly found 70% opposed to building an AI data center in their area.

Critics have raised concerns about the enormous amounts of electricity and water consumed by the facilities as well as noise. Critics also argue that data centers can place a strain on local infrastructure and question whether nearby residents actually benefit economically from their construction.

Read more Here’s How George Santos Landed Kalshi’s First-Ever Lifetime Ban

Those concerns have also been voiced by Republican politicians and candidates even as Trump has remained firmly committed to the data center buildout. Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who has broadly supported data centers, recently moved to impose new regulations on the industry and has argued that data center companies need to pay the full cost of the electrical infrastructure they require. Texas Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton supports Abbott’s pause on new data centers.

Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers in Michigan and Pennsylvania Republican gubernatorial nominee Stacy Garrity have also called for halts or restrictions on certain projects. On the other side of the aisle, Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has imposed restrictions on data center development, while Democratic New York Governor Kathy Hochul ordered a one-year moratorium on certain hyperscale data centers.

Trump, however, has repeatedly rejected calls for a broader pullback. In a recent interview with Michael Cohen, Trump argued that communities refusing data centers were “making a mistake” because the facilities bring “tremendous amounts of jobs and money.” He also claimed that data centers are increasingly being paired with their own power plants rather than relying entirely on existing electrical grids.

The administration has sought to address concerns over electricity costs through its Ratepayer Protection Pledge, under which data center operators and several governors agreed to measures intended to prevent ordinary ratepayers from being saddled with the costs of the AI buildout. Trump has also previously called data centers “one of the biggest Driving Forces in the Future for Jobs” and signed an executive order aimed at accelerating their construction.

Read more Mike Rogers Slams Abdul El-Sayed’s ‘Apology’ To Jews As Political Theater