Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, Idaho governor Brad Little and Drew Marsh, CEO of Entergy, welcome U.S. President Donald Trump at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 23, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
President Donald Trump urged tech companies Thursday to convince local communities to accept AI data centers.
"You have to convince your communities how great these things are. You can't fight it. You have to go with it," the President said.
Trump made the remarks during a speech unveiling his "Ratepayer Protection Pledge" at the Environmental Protection Agency.
The Trump administration is fast-tracking data center construction past environmental rules, but the projects have become politically contentious.
Polling shows overwhelming majorities of voters across partisan lines oppose data center construction near their communities, Gallup found, citing concerns about local resource waste and environmental impacts.
Some view data centers as a proxy for broader AI technology expansion.
The issue has created deep fractures in Republican-dominated states like Florida, where party members disagree sharply over development policy, demonstrating the political complexity surrounding data center deployment.
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