by Ben Whedon
President Donald Trump on Monday expressed support for data centers, pitching them as a way for struggling communities to survive and warning that China benefited from opposition to their construction.
“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,” he posted on Truth Social. “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!”
Data centers are essentially warehouses full of hard storage devices. Information saved on a cloud is ultimately stored on a drive in such a facility.
Their construction has attracted pushback, largely over fears they will increase energy costs or adversely impact the environment. Several large states have announced moratoria on new construction.
In March, the White House announced a ratepayer protection pledge, seeking to ensure the “American people should not be footing the bill for the benefit of private companies.”
Companies that sign the pledge “agree to protect American consumers from price hikes due to data center energy and infrastructure requirements, and lower electricity costs for consumers in the long term.”
According to the White House, more than 300 organizations have signed the pledge. These companies cover 263 million Americans and provide 80% of the power given to American homes.
– – –
Ben Whedon is a reporter for Just the News. Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
