Anyone who opposes data center development is “backwards and poor,” according to America’s billionaire president.
Donald Trump argued on Truth Social Monday that the only reason to oppose a data center in your community is if you don’t want to be rich.
“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,” Trump wrote. “If they want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign.”
Trump further claimed that China would be the ultimate benefactor of the pushback, claiming that if Americans “kill the Golden Goose, you will only have yourselves to blame.”
“The good news is that there are plenty of other places that want them,” he continued. “China could not be happier with this anti Data Center movement. Actually, they can’t believe it is happening!”
Recent polling indicates that the vast majority of Americans—including Republicans—have no interest in permitting the tech industry to build the facilities in their backyards: A survey published earlier this month by Heatmap revealed that 75 percent of Americans oppose data center development in their communities.
That hasn’t always been the case. Heatmap has asked the same question four times in the last year. This time last year, public perception of the issue wasn’t so bad—Americans were actually evenly split on whether they supported or rejected data center development.
But the tech industry has not done a good job at marketing its product, and Americans have become attuned to the inordinate resource drain data centers create. A medium-sized facility can use 110 million gallons of water per year for cooling its hardware—the same amount needed to support a 1,000-household community, according to a 2025 analysis by the nonprofit Environmental and Energy Study Institute.
Nonetheless, some of America’s biggest tech companies—including Meta, Amazon, and Google—have funneled billions of dollars into data center development to power the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence. This year alone, the sum is expected to top $700 billion.
Disgraced former Republican Representative George Santos has become the first person to ever receive a lifetime ban from the prediction market Kalshi.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Santos received the ban after he allegedly made over $17,000 from bets he placed about his attendance at President Trump’s State of the Union address earlier this year. Kalshi said in a filing on its website that Santos didn’t cooperate with the company’s investigation and also has to pay a $71,356 penalty.
Santos mocked the company on X on Monday morning, writing: “Hey @Kalshi thanks for the lifetime ban from your gambling platform. Let’s see how much longer you guys are around for.” In a follow-up post, he complained about not abiding by a “30 day notice” the platform issued to him on August 7, “and today they leaked/announced once again their frivolous nonsense.”
In July, Santos agreed to pay $35,000 in fines to settle claims from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the agency the Trump administration claims has authority over prediction markets. The agency accused Santos of leaving out or misrepresenting key information on his social media accounts in order to influence the price of his positions related to the State of the Union address, and also of betting on an event that he had the ability to influence. Last month, Santos’s attorney, Joseph Murray, said that the former congressman only agreed to pay the fines to avoid litigation and did not admit to any wrongdoing.
Santos was expelled from Congress in 2023 amid revelations that he lied about key details of his life and while facing a 23-count federal indictment on charges including conspiracy to commit offenses against the U.S., making false statements to the government, identity theft, and wire fraud. He pleaded guilty to the latter two charges in 2024 and was given a sentence of 87 months in prison, which was cut short when Trump commuted it last year.
The U.S. Postal Service’s capability could be what decides the November elections.
