President Donald Trump defended the U.S. data-center boom, saying communities that reject the projects are “making a mistake” because artificial-intelligence infrastructure can deliver jobs, investment and tax revenue.
Trump Says Data Centers Bring Jobs
“Communities that don’t take a data center, they’re making a mistake,” Trump told former fixer Michael Cohen in a second part of the interview that aired in full on Sunday. He said the facilities create “tremendous amounts of jobs and money” and argued the United States leads China in AI “by a lot.”
Trump also said data centers are not draining local grids because “they’re making their own power plants,” although many facilities remain dependent on regional grids.
The comments build on Trump’s recent effort to improve the industry’s image. He said last week that data centers need “a little public relations help” as communities push back over power prices and infrastructure costs. The Associated Press reported on Friday that the backlash has increasingly entered midterm campaigns in both Republican- and Democratic-led states.
White House Pushes Developers To Pay
In March, Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google, Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META), Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT), OpenAI, Oracle Corp. (NYSE:ORCL) and xAI signed Trump’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge, agreeing to build, bring or buy new electricity and pay for grid upgrades their facilities require. The White House said a July expansion brought coverage to about 80% of electricity delivered to U.S. homes and businesses.
Power demand is still climbing. The Energy Information Administration expects U.S. electricity consumption to hit records of 4,268 billion kilowatt-hours in 2026 and 4,391 billion in 2027, with AI and cryptocurrency data centers among the drivers.
Backlash Grows Across States And Elections
The expansion has triggered bipartisan resistance. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott halted approvals for new data centers seeking to connect to the state’s grid pending a comprehensive audit.
Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said the guidance would give developers greater flexibility in where and how quickly they can build islanded generation facilities.
Trump has rejected the backlash. His message is that communities should compete for AI investment, while his administration insists developers and not ordinary ratepayers, should pay for the power needed to support it.
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