Trump questions Texas data center move in surging political battle 

President Trump is touting the benefits of AI data centers after Texas moved to more strictly regulate the industry, which has rapidly become a political lightning rod across the political spectrum. 

Trump waded into the debate during an interview last week, saying it would be a mistake to push back on data centers following Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) placing a moratorium on them, pending audits from regulatory agencies.

“I’m not taking positions,” the president told Punchbowl News. “I just think it’s a mistake because there are other communities that want it. When a community wants it, it means a lot of money is going to come into that community.”

Trump said if he were a governor, he “would want data centers so badly,” adding, “Taxes are going to go way down because this is a tremendous source of income.”

Trump’s comments come as data centers have emerged as a hot-button issue going into the midterms, with Democrats looking at the issue as an opportunity to go on the offensive against Republicans.

Polls show widespread disapproval among Americans regarding data centers. A Gallup poll released in May found that 71 percent of Americans said they oppose constructing data centers in their local area, including 48 percent who said they were strongly opposed. 

On the left, much of the opposition is driven by concerns about the environmental impact of the industry, which uses huge amounts of electricity and water. Republicans are more divided on the centers, but opposition on the right is growing as more communities face potential construction in their backyard.

“The concerns on the right are mostly local control [and] community benefits,” said Chris Johnson, a Republican strategist, noting “the conservative instinct to protect your community.” 

Sarah Wagoner, an environmental and energy policy analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation, argued the differing opinions on data centers among conservatives come down to the varying local realities surrounding constructing data centers. 

“Data centers in a state like Texas versus a state like New York versus up in the Midwest, they’re going to have different realities, different environmental and........

© The Hill