Despite growing opposition from Republicans, the US president continues to support data centers ahead of the midterm elections.
Published October 21, 2026
In a change of direction before the midterm elections, US President Donald Trump said AI data centers should pay “dividends” to communities.
“If companies want to popularize their data centers, they should pay ‘dividends’ to communities and individuals within those communities,” President Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday.
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The president’s comments came after Trump doubled down on support for data centers, seen as one of several political responsibilities for Republicans ahead of the midterm elections, as his approval ratings hit record lows.
Opinion polls show support for such centers is weak amid concerns about the water and energy use of the vast complexes.
In the post, Trump advised companies to “make your center popular by paying ‘dividends’ to the community and the individuals within the community.”
“I’ve been watching the process closely, and data centers went from being very unpopular in certain regions to becoming very popular once the financial deals were done,” he said. “Make a deal and let’s build it!!!”
Several leading Republican candidates opposed data centers before the midterm vote, and the issue has emerged as a rare area of bipartisan agreement ahead of the Nov. 3 vote.
Republican Senate candidates, including Ken Paxton of Texas, Mike Rogers of Michigan, and Jon Husted of Ohio, are all reversing their previous positions and calling for more restrictions and oversight of the center.
The issue featured prominently in a recent debate in Iowa, where Republican Senate candidate Ashley Hinson said decisions about whether to build AI data centers should be made at the local level.
Despite the shift in sentiment, President Trump passionately defended data centers in late August, denouncing what he called the “anti-data center movement” as a gift to China.
“The only reason communities across America don’t want data centers is if they want to remain backward and poor,” President Trump wrote at the time.
“If they want to be successful and wealthy and get much lower taxes and jobs here and there, let them govern their data.”
President Trump took several steps last year to speed up data center development, including issuing executive orders to speed up permitting and environmental reviews. The order promises to use federal land for “the rapid and orderly development of data centers.”
President Trump also supports voluntary pledges by AI companies to pay for the full amount of electricity used by their data centers, but he has avoided supporting legally binding federal regulations.
A Gallup poll conducted in March suggested that 71% of Americans oppose establishing an AI data center in their area.
A similar disapproval rating was found in an ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll released Wednesday, with 72% of respondents saying they oppose building new data centers in their communities.
