President Donald Trump on Monday again spoke in support of data center development, despite growing bipartisan opposition ahead of the November midterm elections. In a post on Truth Social, the president said data centers would contribute to the prosperity and success of Americans and criticized those who oppose their construction.
«The only reason communities across the U.S. shouldn’t want data centers is if they want to remain backward and poor,» Trump said. «If we kill the ‘golden goose,’ you’ll only have yourselves to blame.»
Growing opposition and concerns
The expansion of data centers has become a key issue ahead of the November midterm elections. Polls show that most Americans oppose their construction in their communities. Both Republicans and Democrats have expressed concerns about data centers, with state lawmakers and leaders warning of overloaded power grids, significant strain on water supply systems, and the noise generated by these projects.
Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott this month introduced new rules for data centers, although he had actively supported their development during the past year’s election campaign. Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers of Michigan and Republican gubernatorial candidate Stacey Garrity of Pennsylvania have called for a temporary pause on some projects.
Trump and AI competition
However, Trump, who has met repeatedly with some of the world’s leading tech giants, insists that data centers are critical to maintaining U.S. leadership over China in the artificial intelligence race. He made this argument in a recent interview with his former advisor Michael Cohen and repeated it on Monday.
«China would be extremely happy with this move against data centers. In fact, they can’t believe it’s happening!» Trump said.
This is not the first time Trump has advocated for the expansion of the data center network. Last year, he signed an executive order to accelerate permitting and construction of such facilities. In a separate Truth Social post in July, he called data centers «one of the main drivers of the future in job creation.»
In July, New York became the first state to pause the construction of new infrastructure—a move Trump criticized shortly after Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul signed the corresponding executive order.
According to: Politico
