By Rajwa Quasim
President Donald Trump has defended the rapid expansion of data centers, drawing sarcastic responses from lawmakers and environmentalists, including Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
In a Truth Social post on Aug. 31, Trump lashed out at people criticizing data center development. He compared those who oppose data centers to people who want to remain “backwards and poor.”
He wrote, “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! President DJT.”
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Data centers require enormous amounts of electricity, raising concerns about pressure on the power grid, higher utility bills and potential outages. Beyond increased electricity consumption, environmental activists have raised concerns about the vast amounts of water data centers use to cool servers, particularly as parts of the country face drought conditions. Residents living near data centers have also complained about the constant hum generated by their operations.
Meanwhile, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responded to Trump’s remarks with a sarcastic proposal. She replied to MeidasTouch Network, “Ohh. I mean, how about we put one in Mar-a-Lago? I love that.”
She added, “Let’s put a data center up in Mar-a-Lago, and we’ll see how backwards and poor he is in response to that.”
Though Vice President JD Vance acknowledged the concerns, he said, “If you build a data center, you should be putting power back into the grid, not taking it out. If that is happening, I don’t think data centers are that controversial.”
A Gallup poll conducted in March suggested that 71% of Americans oppose establishing AI data centers in their communities.
The comments come amid a series of major investments in data centers. Skanska, a Swedish construction company, signed a $1.19 billion contract to build four new data centers in the southeastern United States. Construction is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2026, with completion expected in 2028.
Nvidia will also provide financial guarantees worth $250 billion to support OpenAI’s plan to lease a 10-gigawatt AI data center project being built by SoftBank’s energy division in southern Ohio.
Meanwhile, New York imposed a one-year moratorium in July on the construction of large data centers, becoming the first U.S. state to take such a step amid rising concerns over the environmental and economic impact of AI-driven facilities. The construction ban applies to data centers that use 50 megawatts or more of power.
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Emerald AI, a startup, has stepped up efforts to address the growing energy demands of AI data centers. Its technology enables AI data centers to dynamically adjust their electricity consumption based on grid conditions rather than operating as fixed loads that draw roughly the same amount of power regardless of grid conditions.
The company says the technology could free up more than 100 GW of power for AI while keeping electricity reliable and affordable for local communities. Emerald AI raised $150 million in a Series A funding round, valuing the company at $1.05 billion.