‘Backwards and poor’: Trump issues dire warning to communities blocking critical technology

President Donald Trump took aim Monday at the growing backlash against data centers, warning that communities that shut the door on the facilities risk missing out on the jobs and economic gains of America's AI boom.

"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 in a post on Truth Social. "If they want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign," he added.

Trump has made energy dominance and U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence central pillars of his second term, placing data centers at the center of his push to maintain America's edge over China.

"China could not be happier with this anti Data Center movement," Trump wrote, arguing that resistance to new facilities risks undercutting America's edge in the global AI race.

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The data center boom has also emerged as a midterm flashpoint, as concerns over rising electricity costs, water use and rapid development collide with promises of jobs, investment and U.S. dominance in artificial intelligence.

That tension is already playing out across the country.

Trump has specifically criticized Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's approach, calling the Lone Star State's stance toward data centers a "mistake" and pointing to the economic investment the projects can bring to communities willing to host them.

Texas has cemented its status as a heavyweight in the industry, with Dallas ranking as the world's No. 1 primary data center market in Cushman & Wakefield's 2026 Global Data Center Market Comparison. But billions of dollars in new investment have also brought enormous electricity demands and questions over who should pay for the infrastructure needed to support the boom.

Abbott has moved to address those concerns, directing regulators to ensure data centers cover the infrastructure costs needed to serve them and calling on developers to add their own power generation rather than shift costs onto Texas residents.

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Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, Gov. Josh Shapiro recently imposed new requirements on large data center developments.

Other governors have taken a more restrictive stance. Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul imposed a one-year moratorium on new hyper-scale data centers as states grapple with concerns over electricity costs, grid reliability and the pace of development.

Data centers house the servers and computing equipment that power artificial intelligence and cloud services, requiring vast amounts of electricity to operate and cool. Most Americans may never see the inside of one, but they rely on data centers constantly, often without realizing it.

The growing patchwork of state restrictions and requirements could complicate Trump’s push for rapid data center expansion as communities weigh America’s AI ambitions against concerns over electricity costs, water use and development.