President Trump on Monday lashed out at communities that are protesting data centers, suggesting that residents who do not go along with the artificial intelligence revolution must prefer to be “backwards and poor.”
“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,” Mr. Trump posted on his Truth Social site. “If they want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign.”
Polling shows most Americans oppose the proliferation of data centers in their communities, a signal of worries about a quickly changing economy and the loss of jobs to machines. Residents have also cited potential negative effects on the environment and increased utility costs as reasons to oppose data centers.
Data centers, the giant computing sites powering the artificial intelligence boom, have set off a national backlash that will affect some voters’ decisions in November’s midterm elections. Residents in more than a dozen cities and towns across the country are so angry about local elected officials’ approval of the energy-guzzling warehouses that they are not waiting. Local officials are facing recall elections for their support of the sites.
The issue has become potent politically, with Democrats and Republicans — aside from Mr. Trump — attempting to leverage their rivals’ support for data centers against them.
A memo from the National Republican Senatorial Committee recently warned that data center politics were endangering the electoral prospects of Senator Jon Husted of Ohio, a Republican who was appointed in January 2025 to fill the vacancy left by JD Vance after he became vice president. Mr. Husted’s challenger, Sherrod Brown, the state’s former Democratic senator, has aired millions of dollars of ads, calling Mr. Husted “the face of data centers in Ohio.”
“More than any other thing in this race, data centers are the anchor hanging around Husted’s neck,” the memo said.
In Wisconsin, Representative Tom Tiffany, a Republican running for governor, recently released a television ad attempting to brand his Democratic rival as “Data Center David Crowley.” It features a clip of Mr. Crowley, the Milwaukee County executive, extolling A.I. and data centers.
Mr. Crowley has attempted to distance himself from those comments, posting on his campaign website: “If local communities don’t want a data center, they shouldn’t be forced to have a data center. No ifs, ands or buts.”
But Mr. Trump is showing no such reservations. He posted that if communities in the United States do not want data centers to power artificial intelligence, then China will benefit.
“If we kill the Golden Goose, you will only have yourselves to blame,” the president wrote. “China could not be happier with this anti Data Center movement.”
