The war on AI data centers continues, driven by a coordinated campaign against the very infrastructure powering the next technological revolution. Critics keep recycling claims about extreme water use, excessive electricity demand, and environmental damage, even as those charges are increasingly debunked or overstated.
President Trump has now stepped into the fight, and rightly so, he is on the side of AI data centers. Not just because they are essential to winning the next technological race against China, but also because communities that embrace them can reap real gains: stronger tax bases, higher property values, local investment, and the broader economic benefits that come from expanding the AI industry.
If America is going to lead the AI era, it will need the power plants, transmission lines, and data centers to match. The question is not whether this infrastructure will transform the economy; it is whether the United States will build it here, or let someone else do it first.
President Trump on Data Centers: “I think any community that turns down AI is making a big mistake because your taxes are gonna go way down. If you own a house it’s going to be more valuable.”
— RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) August 5, 2026
“There's a campaign against data centers. If you look at the stats, everything is good… pic.twitter.com/FQIDdz7OB8
"Well, a big part of it is China. Look, whoever wins the AI race is going to win AI," the president explained. "It's bigger than the Internet. It's bigger than maybe anything that has happened for many, you know, for literally hundreds of years. It is the biggest thing. And it's mostly good. And the communities that are giving a hard time now, a lot of people think that's China-oriented, you know, that China doesn't want this, spending a lot of money on promoting don't, you know, not build because we're beating China in AI."
We're really doing a great job. I approve. It was my idea, actually, for every plant that's built, they build their own electricity. So this way, and they're building unbelievably modernized, you know, much better than anything we have had in the country. You know, these are super geniuses. They know about building plants and they're building their own power. We need tremendous power for that. China is building massive amounts of power. We are too. We're building more than China, because every one of those buildings that you see going up is building their own. So they're not taking to the community and the excess power that they have, which is substantial. They're selling them that back at a very low cost to the grid. So we're getting more and more electric.
"I think any community that turns down AI is making a big mistake because your taxes are going to go way down," Trump added. "If you own a house, it's going to be more valuable. It's a it's a tremendous thing. And I see it. It's almost like there's a there's a campaign against, you know, data centers. But data centers, if you look at the stats, everything's good around them. Now, the thing they should look at is blue states and blue cities, cities run by Democrats, because that's really the threat to the country, because they're a disaster. But when you turn down data centers and within this country, when they get turned down, there's other communities that want them desperately."
So far, the global epicenter of AI data centers remains Loudoun County, Virginia, one of the wealthiest counties in the country. If Loudoun is any indication, it’s worth taking seriously what may come from embracing these facilities. The county is home to roughly 200 data centers, which now generate around 40 percent of its tax revenue; as a result, property tax rates have fallen, home values have held up, and electricity costs have remained largely unaffected.
New technology is always unsettling, but it is coming whether we want it or not. The real question is whether American communities want to reap the benefits of these data centers, or let fear and misinformation hand the future to someone else.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump’s leadership and bold policies, America’s economy is back on track.
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