Trump warns against opposition to data centers... "You'll end up backward and poor"

[Financial News]  


U.S. President Donald Trump sharply criticized the backlash facing the boom in Artificial Intelligence (AI) data center construction on the 31st of last month, local time. He warned that those who do not keep up with the trend will only end up backward and poor. As even Republicans have called for slowing the pace ahead of the midterm elections, Trump moved to confront the backlash head-on.
On his social media platform Truth Social that day, Trump mocked critics, saying, "The only reason local communities in America would not want data centers is because they want to be backward and poor." He added, "If you do not want to succeed, get rich, and have far fewer taxes and jobs flooding your area, then go ahead and regulate data."

The Financial Times reported that Trump intervened through social media on a day when an event was scheduled with Vice President JD Vance in the State of Michigan, where both Democratic and Republican Senate candidates have taken a negative view of AI data center construction.
Mike Rogers, the Republican Senate candidate backed by Trump, also proposed suspending data center projects across the state for one year.
Trump's remarks that day were his most direct response yet to the backlash over AI data center construction. Democrats, as well as the ruling Republican Party, have recently been calling for a temporary halt, audits, or outright bans on additional data center projects.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott was once highly supportive of data center construction, but in August he effectively halted hundreds of projects underway in the state.
Republican Byron Donalds, who is running for governor in Florida, also reversed his initial welcoming stance and turned against the projects.
Republican election strategists see data centers as becoming a political liability. Internal polling shows the projects are deeply unpopular and are increasingly becoming a symbol of public anxiety over Big Tech's expanding influence, higher electricity bills, and the fallout that AI could bring.

Vice President Vance said the backlash was driven by anger over rising electricity bills. He said that "99% of the backlash against data centers" probably came from higher power costs in nearby communities, adding that if developers solve that problem, "data centers will not be nearly as controversial."
Trump's move to defuse the backlash stems from concern that his own economic record could be threatened. AI-related investment is driving U.S. economic growth and helping offset the negative impact of the oil price shock triggered by the Iran war he launched, but he worries that public opposition could overshadow those gains.
On Truth Social, Trump warned, "If you kill the golden goose, you will end up hurting yourself." He also repeated Big Tech executives' argument that slowing the pace of data center expansion would hand AI leadership to China.

While Trump himself said data centers "need a little promotion," Big Tech is also moving quickly. It launched a major political fundraising push that day to blunt the midterm backlash.
Leading the Future, a Super PAC backed by more than $75 million from AI tycoons and Big Tech firms including Silicon Valley venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, as well as OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman, is leading the effort. The group said candidates who support data center construction in this year's midterm elections will receive donations worth millions of dollars.

[email protected] Song Kyung-jae Reporter