President Donald Trump suggested that communities turning away from data centers could face economic decline and poverty.
In a post on Truth Social, he argued that towns resisting these facilities might end up “backwards and poor,” whereas those embracing them could experience job growth and lower taxes. This topic is particularly relevant as artificial intelligence centers have become a contentious issue leading up to the November midterm elections, with many voters expressing opposition.
“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,” Trump stated. “The good news is that there are plenty of other places that want them.”
He also remarked, “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!”
A typical data center project of around 250,000 square feet provides about 50 permanent jobs, with nearly half of those positions filled by contractors, based on a December 2024 report by Virginia’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC). Furthermore, data from Brookings indicates that a county could gain around 2,000 to 4,000 private sector jobs roughly six years after the opening of its first large data center.
Greg Wright, an economist from the University of California Merced, mentioned that current data centers tend to create dozens of permanent positions, which can be significant for rural areas, though many of those jobs are often occupied by outside contractors instead of local individuals.
Despite modest local job increases, states have provided substantial tax incentives to attract data centers, according to a paper Wright co-authored in August called “The Local Economic Impact of Data Centers.”
“The new wave of data center construction involves much larger campuses than we have previously seen (e.g., Meta 5GW in Louisiana), and so will create more jobs than prior projects,” Wright noted. He also pointed out that the construction phase could generate hundreds or even thousands of jobs during the one- to two-year building timeframe.
However, he emphasized that the scale of these projects is still less than that of similar semiconductor and manufacturing projects. Good Jobs First criticized the subsidies offered to these developments, stating they exceed the permanent employment they create, and the anticipated increase in tax revenue doesn’t come to fruition, as discussed in a January 23 blog post.
In referencing the 2024 JLARC report and a review of Georgia’s sales-tax break from 2025, Good Jobs First concluded that these tax incentives cost states more than they generate in tax revenue from the data centers.
The president’s comments sparked a variety of responses online. One user urged him to consider agricultural land and water resources, suggesting his viewpoint was flawed. Another user replied with skepticism about AI, calling it “evil” and predicting negative long-term effects on society, including laziness and decreased intelligence.
The White House has yet to respond to requests for comments regarding these reactions.
Polling data indicates that opposition to data centers spans across party affiliations, with about 70% of Americans saying they disagree with having a data center constructed in their area for AI technology. Similarly, around 75% expressed disapproval of a data center being built near their neighborhoods, according to various recent polls.
