Trump Says Americans Who Oppose AI Data Centers in Their Communities ‘Want to Live In Crime-Infested Squalor’
A Gallup poll conducted in March stated that 71% of Americans oppose building data centers
Credit: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty
NEED TO KNOW
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Trump said data centers could create jobs and lower taxes during an interview with Time
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"If you want to be poor...you should not have a data center," the president said
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A Gallup poll found many Americans worry about data centers' environmental impact and AI's potential harm
President Donald Trump is doubling down on his criticism of Americans who oppose the construction of data centers.
In a Thursday, Oct. 1, interview with Time , the president, 80, was presented with data that said over half of Americans oppose data centers, according to a Gallup poll conducted in March. Critics of the facilities have pointed to environmental concerns and the related disruptions of construction compared with the tax and job benefits.
Trump was asked, "71% of Americans oppose building data centers. 57% say AI or SI, as you call it, will do more harm than good. Are these Americans wrong?"
He responded, "The data centers. You explain it to the Americans. They make a fortune. They're going to lower your taxes. They're going to make your—look at Loudoun County, where they made one and a half billion dollars this year," referring to the county in Virginia.
"They don't know what to do with all that money. But if I spoke to the American people, and if I got a fair press on, which I never would, I would like to have data centers. It doesn't mean I want them right next to my house, but certainly I like them in my county," he continued.
The president went on to say, "If you want to be poor, you want to have no money, if you don't want to have a job, and if you want to live in a crime-infested area, squalor, all the things that go along with it, you should not have a data center."
Trump's criticism of data center opponents echoes earlier comments he's formed of attacking Americans who publicly oppose policies or projects he supports.
"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," Trump wrote on Truth Social on Aug. 31. "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."
Donald Trump holds up a picture of a data center in the Cabinet Room of the White House on Aug. 26, 2025 in Washington, D.C. Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty
Following his post on the social platform, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took aim at the president.
"How about we put one in Mar-a-Lago?" Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat, said when speaking to a reporter in a clip shared by MeidasTouch . She added, "I love that. 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."
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The Gallup poll conducted between March 2 and March 18 suggests 46% of participants also "worry a great deal" about the environmental impact of data centers.
Amazon said its global data centers withdrew about 2.5 billion gallons of water in 2025, much of it for cooling the servers that power its operations. Amazon said its water use declined by 2% from the previous year, despite continuing to expand its operations.
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