President Trump said on Monday that communities in the United States should want data centers unless they want to “end up being backwards and poor.”
“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. If we kill the Golden Goose, you will only have yourselves to blame,” Trump continued.
“China could not be happier with this anti Data Center movement. Actually, they can’t believe it is happening!” he added.
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The Hill shared further:
Americans’ opposition to data centers in their local communities has grown, according to recent polling.
A survey Fox News conducted last month found 70 percent of respondents opposed the construction of a data center in their area to support AI. That included 60 percent of Republicans and 76 percent of Democrats.
ADVERTISEMENTOne concern among Americans and lawmakers opposed to the construction of data centers is tied to the environmental and financial effects the facilities have.
A medium-sized data center can consume up to about 110 million gallons of water per year for cooling purposes, equivalent to the annual water usage of roughly 1,000 households, an analyst at the nonprofit Environmental and Energy Study Institute reported last year.
Dozens of companies, including Meta, Amazon and Google, have agreed to pay for increased energy costs generated by their data centers through Trump’s ratepayer protection pledge.
Trump previously addressed data center concerns as the White House expanded a voluntary pledge by developers to shield U.S. consumers from higher costs.
“We know that the data centers and AI are dramatically increasing the demand for electricity. It’s only fair that the cost of building the new infrastructure required to meet this demand should be borne by the corporations themselves, not by the American consumers,” Trump explained.
“Earlier this year, I introduced the ‘Ratepayer Protection Pledge.’ Under this groundbreaking plan, America’s largest tech companies have formally committed to fund or build all energy infrastructure required to meet the demand they are placing on the grid. So they’re going to be funding all those electric needs, and we’re giving them the right to build their own power plants,” he continued.
Newsweek has more:
Public skepticism has intensified as that buildout accelerates. A Gallup survey conducted in March found that seven in 10 Americans oppose building data centers in their communities, while separate Politico polling found 41 percent would oppose a facility within three miles of their home, up from 28 percent in January.
Opposition has emerged across the political spectrum and is increasingly being reflected in public policy. New York enacted the nation's first statewide data center moratorium in July, while lawmakers in more than a dozen other states have considered similar restrictions.
The resistance has also translated into project delays. According to The Information, more than 500 localities have stalled data center development, while Data Center Watch found that more than 75 projects worth roughly $130 billion were halted in the first three months of 2026 alone, nearly matching the number blocked during all of 2025.
ADVERTISEMENTConcerns about electricity costs appear to be a major driver of the backlash. The Economist/YouGov poll conducted in August found that 62 percent of Americans believe a new data center in their community would increase their electricity costs, compared with 13 percent who said it would have no effect and just 3 percent who said it would lower costs.
