BREAKING: Trump says data centers will make American communities 'successful and rich,' create jobs

President Donald Trump has come out swinging hard against anti-data center activism, saying that those communities that do not want them around the US should reject them only if they want to "end up being backwards and poor."

Trump posted to Truth Social, "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. 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. China could not be happier with this anti Data Center movement. Actually, they can’t believe it is happening!"

The post from Trump comes after there was a report from X that said there has been a massive campaign from suspected Chinese bot accounts online to spread propaganda about data centers and US energy policy.  

The report from X said that after an investigation was conducted, they "identified a bot farm of approximately 200,000 accounts. Within this farm, we found 200 accounts posting in a manner that could manipulate a legitimate debate about American AI and energy policy."

The post from the president comes as there has been bipartisan backlash against data centers, with many anti-data center activists in the US echoing similar claims made by the suspected Chinese bot accounts cited by X. The report from X had claims that "AI data centers are driving up household electricity prices and straining the grid. Others included AI-generated cartoons that depicted data-center operators enriching themselves at the public's expense."

Although the opposition to data centers has come from the right and left, Trump has voiced support for the technology in recent weeks as politicians on both sides of the aisle have taken aim at the technology. 

After Texas Governor Greg Abbott said he paused industry-wide approvals on data centers, Trump hit back on the issue. “I saw Texas the other day sort of is against data centers,” Trump told Punchbowl News. “I think it’s a mistake. And I’m not taking positions, I just think it’s a mistake, because there are other communities that want it. When a community wants it, it means a lot of money is going to come into that community.”

Speaking to reporters about the subject earlier in August, the president said: "If you pick the right location, what it means for a community is jobs and lots of money and lower taxes. The data centers now are mandated by me that they build their own electricity, so they're not taking it from the grid."