Donald Trump Criticizes Local Communities for Opposing New Data Center Construction Across the United States

President Trump criticized communities that oppose new data center construction as a growing backlash develops ahead of the November midterm elections. In a Truth Social post, President Trump stated that communities rejecting these projects risk becoming "backwards and poor," while those that embrace them can achieve success with lower taxes and more jobs. Recent polling indicates that three-quarters of Americans oppose building data centers near their homes, with more than six in 10 strongly opposing the move. This backlash is driven by concerns over rising utility costs, power demand, water use, and environmental impacts. The National Republican Senatorial Committee warned that if voter perceptions of data centers are not fixed quickly, the opposition could expand beyond Ohio. In the state, Democratic challenger Sherrod Brown has made his opposition to data centers the centerpiece of his campaign against Republican Senator Jon Husted. The committee noted that if Husted loses and data centers are blamed, politicians nationwide may avoid similar projects in the future.

Sources

• The Guardian
  Trump attacks datacenter backlash, claiming communities pushing back risk becoming ‘backwards and poor’
• CNBC
  Trump says U.S. communities opposing AI data centers could end up 'backwards and poor'

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Paywall and unreadable sources

• Financial Times
  Donald Trump says data centre critics ‘want to end up backwards and poor’
• Politico
  Republicans struggle for footing on data center response ahead of midterms
• The Hill
  Ocasio-Cortez: ‘Put a data center up in Mar-a-Lago’