Donald Trump picked a fight with his own voters, and lost.
On Monday, 31 August 2026, the president took to Truth Social to defend the artificial intelligence data centre boom, warning that communities resisting new construction would end up poor and irrelevant.
The post detonated inside his own comment section, where loyal supporters accused him of siding with billion-dollar tech firms over the people who elected him.
Writing on his own platform, Trump declared: 'The only reason that communities throughout the U.S.A. should not want Data Centers is if they want to end up being backwards and poor. If they want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign.'
He added that 'there are plenty of other places' willing to host the facilities, and warned that if the 'Golden Goose' is killed, resistant towns 'will only have yourselves to blame.' Trump went further still, claiming China 'could not be happier' with the growing anti-data-centre movement and that Beijing 'can't believe it is happening.'
The post arrives as Republicans confront voter backlash over data centre projects ahead of November's midterm elections, with the issue already dominating races in Ohio and Michigan.
Reaction on Truth Social, a platform whose users are drawn almost entirely from Trump's own base, was immediate and unusually hostile.
One self-described three-time Trump voter said they 'absolutely disagree' with the president, writing: 'I don't know who is telling you this garbage but please visit some communities that have been ravaged by data centers.'
Another commenter wrote simply that they regretted ever supporting him. A separate user said they would rather have clean water and less surveillance, while another argued that no one agreed with the president's position and stressed they remained loyal to conservative values.
Even sympathetic voices pushed back. One self-identified Trump supporter argued that anyone dismissing concerns about wind turbines, constant humming, or dying wildlife should visit a neighbourhood built beside a data centre, warning that Florida's fragile aquifer made the threat real, while insisting, 'And, I'm MAGA!'
Another user, going by a different handle, said the issue wasn't opposition to data centres themselves but soaring electricity bills and shrinking water supplies. They added that states handle the industry inconsistently and often with no regard for residents' bills.
Trump’s followers on Truth Social are outraged at him for supporting data centers:“I regret ever supporting you” https://t.co/rp1rzgxUEK pic.twitter.com/FcTdLXM1pb
The revolt is not confined to social media. A recent Embold Research poll found three-quarters of Americans would oppose construction of a new data centre in their own community, and Gallup found earlier this year that seven in ten Americans oppose building such facilities near them.
A memo from the National Republican Senatorial Committee, obtained by Axios, warned that unless voters' perceptions of data centres are 'fixed quickly, the campaign against them will expand far beyond Ohio.'
Separately, a Wolfe Research report issued on 28 August noted that investors have repeatedly asked how the backlash will play out, describing its pace and scale as 'genuinely breathtaking' and adding that net support for local construction has dropped by sixty points across party lines over the past year.
