Tangent
Trump’s support for data centers comes as he’s strengthened his ties with the tech industry, simultaneously from a personal business standpoint and in his role as president, during his second term after having a previously adversarial relationship with Silicon Valley earlier in his political career. Companies including Nvidia, Adobe, Oracle, Dell, Microsoft and Amazon were among Trump’s largest stock purchases in the first quarter of this year, valued between $1 million and $5 million. He bought between $1 million and $5 million of Dell shares on February 10, and the company’s stock, boosted by the data center boom, subsequently climbed more than 140% over the six weeks, Forbes reported previously. The Trump Organization has repeatedly said Trump’s stock holdings are independently managed by third-party financial institutions and that neither Trump nor his family play any role or have any advance notice of trading activity.
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How has Trump tried to ease regulations on data centers?
The Trump administration announced plans in July to eliminate an Environmental Protection Agency requirement for public input on some projects seeking air pollution permits, including data centers, which critics argue is sometimes the only way the public is notified before a project begins. Last year, before the data center opposition campaign took off, Trump signed an executive order titled “Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure” that implemented numerous policies to ease the permitting process. Trump has maintained that data centers, not taxpayers, should bear the additional electricity costs associated with their projects. He asked tech companies in March to sign a pledge “agreeing to build, bring, or buy new generation resources and cover the cost of all power delivery infrastructure upgrades required for their data centers, ensuring such expenses are not passed to American households.”
Crucial Quote
“More than any other thing in this race, data centers are the anchor hanging around Husted’s neck,” the National Republican Senatorial Committee wrote in a recent memo to AI companies, according to multiple outlets. The NRSC was referring to Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, named the “face of data centers in Ohio” by his opponent, former Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, over his support for data centers while serving as lieutenant governor. Data centers, the NRSC said, have “become a sleeper issue for the entire election cycle.”
Big Number
41%. That’s the share of adult Americans who oppose data centers being built within three miles of where they live, compared to 24% who support them, according to a Politico poll taken in July. The numbers were reversed in Politico’s January poll, with 28% opposing and 37% supporting. Support among Kamala Harris voters has dropped 13 points, to 22%, and support among Trump voters is down 11 points, to 34%.
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Key Background
Data centers have become a hot button issue in the midterm elections, with more than 100 campaign ads mentioning them this cycle, all in a negative light, according to a Politico review of AdImpact data. A recent study by the Washington Post found both Republicans and Democrats’ online posts about data centers have taken a dramatic turn from mostly positive to mostly negative over the last year, with Republicans’ shift coming several months after Democrats’. Husted and Abbott are among multiple lawmakers who have backed off previous support for data centers. In July, as Husted’s re-election campaign geared up, he introduced legislation aimed at requiring data centers to pay added electricity costs associated with their construction and operation. Some Democrats have also reversed course. Pennsylvania’s Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and his Republican opponent, state treasurer Stacy Garrity, have both accused each other of supporting data centers, and Shapiro recently announced new regulations on projects.
further reading
Here Are Donald Trump’s 10 Best Stock Trades Of 2026 (Forbes)
Trump Defends AI Data Centers—Says Opposing Them Is A ‘Mistake’ And ‘Smart Ones’ Want Them (Forbes)
Trump Made Big Stock Trades In SpaceX, Palantir And Tech Companies In June (Forbes)
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