Data Centers Are Threatening Some Republicans’ Re-Election Chances—But Trump Still Promotes Them

Aug 27, 2026 10:44 PM - 1 hour ago 1

Topline

President Donald Trump continues to advocator for information centers—accusing communities who reason them of making a “mistake” and relaxing regulations to build them—contradicting different Republicans reversing people connected the AI powerhouses that person go the caller 3rd obstruction successful the 2026 midterms.

(L-R) Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and Idaho Gov. Brad Little applaud pursuing remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump (C) connected the Ratepayer Protection Pledge during a roundtable astatine the Environmental Protection Agency office connected July 23, 2026 successful Washington, DC. The promise is intended to shield taxpayers from the costs associated pinch energy demands from the AI boom. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

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Key Facts

As nationalist support for information centers has plummeted successful caller months among voters crossed the governmental spectrum, they’ve progressively go an onslaught statement against lawmakers who person backed them, prompting members of some parties to h2o down immoderate erstwhile support.

Trump, however, is doubling down connected information centers, saying successful a power question and reply connected Aug. 23, “communities that don’t return a information center, they’re making a mistake” and losing retired connected “tremendous amounts of jobs and money,” while claiming AI companies that build their ain plants to powerfulness information centers aren’t “taking the powerfulness from the grid.”

While hosting tech and crypto executives astatine the White House connected Aug. 19, Trump said that if he were a section authorities official, he would “absolutely want” a information halfway successful his jurisdiction, because “the jobs are enormous, and the money paid, the taxes paid are conscionable enormous,” adding, “if you don’t return it, you’re going to beryllium near down because location are plentifulness of places that want it.”

Trump acknowledged astatine the White House event, the manufacture needs “a small nationalist relations help,” alluding to concerns from group who unrecorded adjacent them astir imaginable biology impacts, higher energy bills and the sheer size of the facilities.

In an question and reply pinch Punchbowl News aired Aug. 7, Trump took a deed astatine his Republican ally, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, for announcing caller information halfway regulations, telling the outlet, “for Texas to opportunity nary to information centers is simply a mistake, successful the consciousness that it could beryllium bigger than oil,” adding, “if we move disconnected connected information centers and we move disconnected connected AI, we aren’t leading” globally.

On Friday, Trump said he doesn’t expect Republicans to travel suit pinch his continued support for information centers, telling reporters, “I really want them—if a Republican's against the information center, that's okay pinch me.”

Tangent

Trump’s support for information centers comes arsenic he’s strengthened his ties pinch the tech industry, simultaneously from a individual business standpoint and successful his domiciled arsenic president, during his 2nd word aft having a antecedently adversarial narration pinch Silicon Valley earlier successful his governmental career. Companies including Nvidia, Adobe, Oracle, Dell, Microsoft and Amazon were among Trump’s largest banal purchases successful the first 4th of this year, weighted betwixt $1 cardinal and $5 million. He bought betwixt $1 cardinal and $5 cardinal of Dell shares connected February 10, and the company’s stock, boosted by the information halfway boom, subsequently climbed much than 140% complete the six weeks, Forbes reported previously. The Trump Organization has many times said Trump’s banal holdings are independently managed by third-party financial institutions and that neither Trump nor his family play immoderate domiciled aliases person immoderate beforehand announcement of trading activity.

How has Trump tried to easiness regulations connected information centers?

The Trump management announced plans successful July to destruct an Environmental Protection Agency request for nationalist input connected immoderate projects seeking aerial contamination permits, including information centers, which critics reason is sometimes the only measurement the nationalist is notified earlier a task begins. Last year, earlier the information halfway guidance run took off, Trump signed an executive bid titled “Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure" that implemented galore policies to easiness the permitting process. Trump has maintained that information centers, not taxpayers, should carnivore the further energy costs associated pinch their projects. He asked tech companies successful March to motion a promise “agreeing to build, bring, aliases bargain caller procreation resources and screen the costs of each powerfulness transportation infrastructure upgrades required for their information centers, ensuring specified expenses are not passed to American households.”

Crucial Quote

“More than immoderate different point successful this race, information centers are the anchor hanging astir Husted’s neck,” the National Republican Senatorial Committee wrote successful a caller memo to AI companies, according to multiple outlets. The NRSC was referring to Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, named the “face of information centers successful Ohio” by his opponent, erstwhile Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, complete his support for information centers while serving arsenic lieutenant governor. Data centers, the NRSC said, person “become a sleeper rumor for the full predetermination cycle.”

Big Number

41%. That’s the stock of big Americans who reason information centers being built wrong 3 miles of wherever they live, compared to 24% who support them, according to a Politico poll taken successful July. The numbers were reversed successful Politico’s January poll, pinch 28% opposing and 37% supporting. Support among Kamala Harris voters has dropped 13 points, to 22%, and support among Trump voters is down 11 points, to 34%.

Key Background

Data centers person go a basking fastener rumor successful the midterm elections, pinch more than 100 run ads mentioning them this cycle, each successful a antagonistic light, according to a Politico reappraisal of AdImpact data. A recent study by the Washington Post recovered some Republicans and Democrats’ online posts astir information centers person taken a melodramatic move from mostly affirmative to mostly antagonistic complete the past year, pinch Republicans’ displacement coming respective months aft Democrats’. Husted and Abbott are among aggregate lawmakers who person backed disconnected erstwhile support for information centers. In July, arsenic Husted’s re-election run geared up, he introduced authorities aimed astatine requiring information centers to salary added energy costs associated pinch their building and operation. Some Democrats person besides reversed course. Pennsylvania’s Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and his Republican opponent, authorities treasurer Stacy Garrity, person some accused each different of supporting information centers, and Shapiro precocious announced caller regulations connected projects.