Trump: Communities That Reject Data Centers Want to Be 'Backwards and Poor'

President Donald Trump issued a blunt warning Monday to communities that have turned against the data center boom driving America's artificial intelligence revolution: reject the projects and you are choosing 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," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "If they want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign."

The president framed the fight over data centers as a choice between prosperity and decline, noting that plenty of communities are eager to host the facilities that power the AI economy. "The good news is that there are plenty of other places that want them," he said. "If we kill the Golden Goose, you will only have yourselves to blame. China could not be happier with this anti Data Center movement. Actually, they can't believe it is happening!"

The Stakes Behind the Data Center Boom

Data centers house the computing equipment used to train and operate AI models developed by companies like OpenAI and Anthropic. The construction boom has poured billions into states across the country, creating construction jobs, permanent technical positions, and new tax revenue for local governments that welcome the projects.

Trump has made AI infrastructure a centerpiece of his economic agenda, and the post signals the White House intends to defend the boom against what the president sees as short-sighted local opposition. The rapid expansion has triggered pushback in some areas over electricity costs, power demand, water use, and other local impacts, and that opposition has become a political flashpoint heading into November's midterm elections, which will decide control of both chambers of Congress.

A Defining Fight in Ohio

The clearest test case is Ohio, where the data center fight has become the central issue in the special election race between Republican Sen. Jon Husted and Democratic challenger Sherrod Brown. Brown has made his opposition to the projects the centerpiece of his campaign, and Republicans privately acknowledge the issue is cutting against them.

A memo from the National Republican Senatorial Committee warned that "if voters' perceptions of data centers are not fixed quickly, the campaign against them will expand far beyond Ohio." The memo said private polling shows Husted in a "dead heat" with Brown, and that "more than any other thing in this race, data centers are the anchor hanging around Husted's neck."

Trump's post amounts to a direct rebuttal of that Democratic messaging, making the case that the backlash is built on fear rather than sound economics.

Polling Shows the Headwinds

The political headwinds are real. A Gallup survey conducted in March found that seven in ten Americans oppose constructing AI data centers in their local area, including 48 percent who are strongly opposed.

Wall Street has taken notice as well. A Wolfe Research report released Aug. 28 said the backlash is unlike anything analysts have seen in recent memory. "The pace and scale of the backlash is genuinely breathtaking - we've never seen anything like it," the report said, citing 60-point drops in net support for local data center construction across party lines over the past year.

What Happens Next

Trump's intervention raises the stakes for Republicans heading into the midterms. By tying data center opposition to economic decline and warning that the backlash hands an advantage to China, the president is betting that voters will side with growth, jobs, and lower taxes once the choice is laid out clearly.

The Ohio race will be the first real test of whether that message lands. If Husted holds on, the playbook could spread nationwide; if he does not, the anti-data center movement could grow. Either way, the White House has made clear where it stands: America builds, or America falls behind.