President Trump on Saturday defended the rapid expansion of massive data centers, telling supporters in Ohio that blocking the technology projects could give China an economic and strategic advantage. He made the argument while urging voters to support Republican candidates in next month’s midterm elections.
“There’s so much money to be made for Ohio. You can’t just turn them off. They’ll go to China,” Trump said at a campaign rally outside Dayton. He called on voters to back Republican Sen. Jon Husted and gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
Trump repeatedly encouraged the crowd in the battleground state to approach the November 3 midterm elections as if his own name were on the ballot.
“Please pretend that I’m on the ballot, and you need to turn out for a midterm victory,” he said.
The president said his administration was taking “historic action” to ensure that the large technology companies building data centers also provide benefits to the communities around them.
Trump linked the data center boom to the global competition over artificial intelligence. He said the United States was ahead of China in the race to develop what he repeatedly described as “superintelligence.”
Trump said China “doesn’t want to see us” succeed, adding, “We’re beating China” in the technology race. He used that argument to oppose efforts to reject or restrict data center projects in the United States.
At the same time, Trump endorsed legislation backed by Husted that he said would “stop data centers from raising electricity costs and require them to pay their own way.”
Trump said nearly every Senate Democrat had voted several days earlier to block the proposal.
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He promised to sign the Ratepayer Protection Act “into law immediately within 24 hours” if Republicans won.
The rapid growth of data center construction has sparked bipartisan opposition in communities nationwide. Local officials and residents are confronting the vast quantities of electricity, water and land needed to operate the facilities.
The central dispute has focused on who should pay for the infrastructure required to support the projects.
Utilities may have to construct power plants, substations and transmission lines to handle the enormous electricity demand from data centers. That has raised concerns that households and other businesses could face higher bills if the expenses are distributed across the wider customer base.
Heavy water consumption, noise and sprawling development sites have added to the backlash, particularly when projects are built near residential neighborhoods or depend on already-strained water supplies.
Critics have also challenged the generous state and local tax incentives offered to data center developers. The facilities can cost billions of dollars to build while employing comparatively few workers after construction is completed.
Mounting political pressure has led officials in several states to reconsider the tax breaks and expedited approvals once used to attract the industry.
Some states have suspended tax incentives or permitting processes. Others have introduced special utility rates and new requirements designed to make developers bear more of the cost of providing service to their facilities.
Trump traveled to Ohio after stops in Texas, Oklahoma and Alabama this week as part of what he has described as a 32-day tour ahead of the midterm elections.
— With Post wires