President Trump Monday warned Americans not to reject unpopular data centers, saying the power-chugging facilities are a ticket to progress and prosperity.
Reupping his stance on the lightning rod issue, Trump said sprawling data centers bring more tax revenue and lower unemployment to communities where they are constructed, outweighing potential costs.
“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 on his social media site. “If they want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign.”
Trump said states or local communities that shun data centers will lose out to others lining up to give the green light to big-money deals.
“If we kill the Golden Goose, you will only have yourselves to blame,” he added.
Vice President JD Vance took a more measured approach, suggesting that Trump was only referring to situations in which operators build their own sources of energy for new data centers, which are needed to power the artificial intelligence boom.
“If you build a data center, you should be putting power back into the grid, not taking it out,” Vance said as he headed for a campaign event with Michigan Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers, who backs data centers. “If that is happening, I don’t think data centers are that controversial.”
Data centers have become a hot-button issue in the midterms with majorities in both parties opposing them. Tech companies say they’re crucial to securing America’s place in an AI-dominated future.
The rare bipartisan agreement among voters has spurred elected officials and candidates to scramble to shift or harden their positions.
Gov. Hochul last month issued an executive order that pauses new data center construction for a year, a move Trump criticized.
Popular Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-Pennsylvania) and Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Texas) both recently flipped from strongly supporting new data centers to imposing new regulations as opposition grows and Election Day nears.
