President Donald Trump had a stern message for data center opponents. In a Monday post on Truth Social, Trump portrayed the backlash as a boon to China, a frequent point he makes when discussing what he views as too onerous regulations on AI.
"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," he wrote. "If they want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign."
He added, "If we kill the Golden Goose, you will only have yourselves to blame. China could not be happier with this anti Data Center movement."
Trump has repeatedly made clear that he sees himself as one of the AI industry's biggest supporters, but his comments come as some of his political allies have soured on data centers amid a growing public backlash.
Most notably, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, whom Trump has repeatedly praised, moved to impose an effective moratorium on new large-scale data center approvals until Texas agencies can conduct a full review. In July, Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, a fellow Republican who is generally supportive of the White House, signed an executive order reining in data center tax incentives and formalized a on new data center construction.
Polling shows that data centers, which are critical to the training and running of AI models, have become a pariah. A widely cited Gallup survey in May found that seven in 10 Americans oppose local data center construction. A more recent Fox News survey published last month found roughly the same margin of opposition among registered voters. The Fox survey also found that, among those opposed, the top concerns were largely about "environmental issues," including "uses too much energy/water/resources."
Ohio Republican gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy, who Trump once named to co-lead DOGE alongside Elon Musk, has said that if he is elected, he would sign an executive order on Day 1 to new data center construction until the Ohio legislature passes his development regulations.
The White House has aggressively pushed Congress to pass federal preemption of state AI regulations, a policy opposed by the likes of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the latter of whom served as one of his White House press secretaries during his first term.
Amid GOP opposition, Congress failed to pass such preemption, leading Trump to settle for an executive order.