The US President claimed ‘China could not be happier’ after both Democrats and Republicans hit back at his controversial latest tech push
Donald Trump has lashed out at critics of data centres(Image: Getty Images)
Donald Trump has attacked the growing backlash towards data centres across the US and branded communities who pushed back as “backwards and poor”.
The US President has thrown his support behind the construction of data centres – a building that holds equipment like servers which are crucial for running computer systems – while both Democrats and Republicans share their concerns. Polls in the US have shown a majority of Americans oppose these being built in their community.
Despite the growing concerns among voters and politicians in the runup to the November midterms, Trump issued a scathing attack on people who opposed data centres.
In a staggering Truth Social post, the US President said: “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 continued his blazing attack on data centre opposers and wrote: “If they want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign.
“The good news is that there are plenty of other places that want them. If we kill the Golden Goose, you will only have yourselves to blame.”
The US President also claimed China would benefit from pushback by the US public on these buildings. He added: “China could not be happier with this anti Data Center movement. Actually, they can’t believe it is happening! President DJT.”
Opposition to the growing number of data centres across the US has been bipartisan with issues such as noise pollution, electricity use, possible outages and rising bills all being raised.
A study, by the University of Virginia, found 65% of American oppose data centres in their local area with just 20% willing to support one being built in their community. It also found that opposition to these data centres was high among both Republicans and Democrats.
In July, New York became the first US state to impose a one-year pause on new AI data centres being built. Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, at the time said: “As datacenter development threatens to hike up utility bills, deplete our natural resources, and create uncertainty for New Yorkers, it’s my responsibility to take action and lead.”
A Republican US Senate candidate for Michigan, Mike Rogers, also recently backed a similar one-year pause on data centres being built in the state.
Trump signed an executive order, last year, which would accelerate permits being approved for data centres.
This comes after more than $31million has been spent so far in the US on political ads that mention data centres this year, ahead of the midterms, according to CNN. These ads have come from both Republican and Democrats.
