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Trump backs data centers
President Donald Trump defended data centers during a White House meeting with leaders in the cryptocurrency sector, saying, “If I were the mayor of a town or the governor of a state, and I had the opportunity to secure a large plant, an AI plant or a data center, I would certainly want it because the jobs are huge and the money that is paid, the taxes that are paid, are simply enormous.”
““If I were the mayor of a town or the governor of a state, and I had the opportunity to secure a large plant, an AI plant or a data center, I would certainly want it because the jobs are huge and the money that is paid, the taxes that are paid, are simply enormous,” Trump said.”
The same reporting tied that defense to a broader political backlash in which the Republican Senate campaign arm warned that anger over data centers “could cost them seats in the upcoming elections.”
In Ohio, the National Republican Senatorial Committee warned that Senator Jon Husted is vulnerable to losing his seat because of data centers, while Democratic candidate Sherrod Brown has run ads labeling Husted as “the face of data centers in Ohio.”
The dispute is also playing out in local votes and state policy, including Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s announcement: “I paused new data center projects pending a statewide audit.”
Opposition spreads, politics tightens
A memo described by CNBC said the National Republican Senatorial Committee warned that data centers have become a “sleeper issue” for the entire midterm election cycle, with the Ohio race singled out as a place where the controversy could expand beyond one state.
CNBC also reported that the NRSC memo cautioned, “If voters' perceptions of data centers are not fixed quickly, the campaign against them will expand far beyond Ohio,” linking the political risk to how quickly public attitudes shift.
In Minnesota, MPR News said Google hosted events in Pine Island and Hermantown, with the Hermantown open house disrupted by opponents and several escorted out by police.
MPR News further reported that in Pine Island, Google representative Halston Sleets told the crowd, “We are here to celebrate the Panthers, celebrate this community, celebrate the schools,” as Google announced free computers for 5th and 9th grade students and pay for a new HVAC system in the middle school.
What’s at stake next
The political stakes are framed as both electoral and financial, with the NRSC warning that if Husted loses “the industry will be blamed,” and that both parties will take notice.
““the industry will be blamed,” and both parties will take notice”
In the same CNBC account, the NRSC memo said data centers are a “fixture of the contentious Senate race in Ohio,” while Trump acknowledged that communities should welcome them, saying, “I would absolutely want it because the jobs are enormous and the money paid, the taxes paid, are just enormous.”
In Texas, the dispute is tied to how projects are authorized and what they must disclose, with Abbott requiring that data centers disclose plans to pay their own way, provide their own power and water, reduce electricity costs and avoid disrupting neighborhoods.
And in Hanover, Virginia, WWBT reported that the Hanover County Planning Commission voted 5-2 to recommend approval of the Iron Horse data center campus despite public opposition centered on water usage, electricity usage and increased traffic, with Friends of Hanover arguing, “Data centers are doing harm. They’re doing harm to the people and the animals that live around them.”