President Trump bashed the anti-data-center movement earlier this week on Truth Social, putting himself at odds with populist opposition to data centers.

“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,” said Trump. “If they want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign.”

Anger across the country over the spread of data centers has intensified in recent months, as populists on both the American left and right have placed particular emphasis on the issue. For them, the data centers represent the trampling of small-town America, and the rapid expansion of oligarchic power.

Trump — whose 2024 campaign received significant financial assistance from players in the artificial intelligence industry — has worked closely with tech companies throughout his second term.

Many have defended the rapid expansion of data centers as “free markets” at work. As a libertarian, I am a firm supporter of free markets. The data center boom has not been born out of voluntary economic exchanges, however.

Rather, much of it is the result of government........

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