Trump tells data center companies to make financial deals with local communities

President Trump has urged data center firms to collaborate with nearby communities to avoid public disdain for their facilities. He suggested that rewarding local residents with financial dividends could make these sites more appealing, although such incentives have not always succeeded in the past. In a post on Truth Social, Trump claimed that unpopular data centers have turned popular when financial arrangements were made.

Trump stated that these dividends should be distributed to the community and/or its residents, though not everyone is convinced that cash incentives justify having a data center in their neighborhood. In September, Hazle Township, Pennsylvania, received a $10,000 grant from a data center developer for each household, contingent on the approval of up to 15 data center buildings on a 1,300-acre site.

Despite some interest, many residents feel the compensation is insufficient to counteract potential property value losses and environmental concerns like noise, water usage, and pollution. Other tech giants have attempted to persuade local communities to accept data centers, such as Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman, who pledged to invest over $1 billion in data center towns across the US in the next five years.

SpaceX offered discounted Starlink satellite internet service near its Colossus data center in Memphis, Tennessee, but only around 2,000 people out of 250,000 households signed up. Tech CEO highlights the hypocrisy of some AI critics Trump has previously criticized those who oppose data centers, calling protesters misguided and warning that rejecting them could result in backwardness and poverty.

He also emphasized the impact of large data centers on local electricity supplies, stating that new and large data centers must generate their own electricity and either sell excess power back to the community or grid. In March 2026, seven major technology companies signed a voluntary pledge at the White House to fund extra power generation and grid upgrades for their data centers, aiming to prevent these costs from being passed onto other electricity customers.