President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that data center companies should pay a financial “dividend” to communities that host their projects, arguing that the money could turn local opposition into support, Business Insider reported.
In an early-morning Truth Social post, Mr. Trump said the money could go to local governments or residents, but he gave no amount, formula or enforcement plan. He also did not say who would set the payments or whether his administration would require them.
“I have watched the process closely, and Data Centers that were highly unpopular in a certain area, have become extremely popular when a financial deal is struck,” Mr. Trump wrote. He ended with an instruction to companies and officials: “MAKE DEALS, and get them built!!!”
Companies have already begun paying for local acceptance. This summer, Elon Musk’s SpaceX offered eligible Memphis residents a 50 percent discount on Starlink internet service as its AI infrastructure expanded there. NorthPoint Development offered every household in a Pennsylvania township $10,000 if residents allowed a data center, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The pressure campaign comes as opposition grows over electricity costs, noise and the energy, water and land that computing sites consume. Data Center Watch found that local campaigns delayed or stopped at least 75 projects in the first three months of this year. It put the value of those projects at roughly $130 billion.
The objection crosses party lines. A September poll by The New York Times and Siena College found that 47 percent of Republicans and 75 percent of Democrats opposed building data centers for artificial intelligence.
The Next Web reported that Mr. Trump first raised the dividend proposal on Sept. 29, the day he met Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella at the White House. Senator Bernie Sanders, a political opponent, has separately proposed an AI sovereign wealth fund that would send payments directly to Americans.
Mr. Trump’s Wednesday post was gentler than one from Aug. 31, when he warned that communities refusing data centers risked becoming “backwards and poor.” The administration supports their construction as part of its effort to keep the United States ahead in artificial intelligence.
He also cited an earlier effort to prevent large computing sites from raising nearby customers’ electricity prices. In March, several technology leaders signed the Ratepayer Protection Pledge, committing companies to provide or pay for the power generation and electricity their AI projects require.
More than 300 companies have signed the nonbinding White House pledge, and Microsoft has said it will stop seeking tax breaks where it builds. Those concessions have not settled the disputes over local costs and land use.
Data centers have become a campaign issue ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections. Mr. Trump offered no date by which he wants companies to begin paying their proposed dividends.