{
  "id": 15861791,
  "title": "Trump urges data center firms to pay communities ‘dividend’",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/21/trump-urges-data-center-firms-to-pay-communities-dividend",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-10-21T06:52:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today-freemalays",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/world/2026/10/21/trump-urges-data-center-firms-to-pay-communities-dividend"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump advocated on Wednesday for data center firms to compensate communities with a \"dividend\" to boost the popularity and approval of such facilities, while emphasizing the need for more construction. Trump's stance aims to bolster the United States' position in artificial intelligence, despite local opposition to data centers due to concerns over energy and water consumption. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump suggested that communities and individuals within them should be rewarded financially if companies seek to make their data centers popular. The former president noted that previous unpopular projects often gained support following a favorable financial agreement. According to Data Center Watch, which monitors resistance to the industry, at least 75 data center projects faced local opposition or were delayed in the first three months of 2026. Recent polls indicate bipartisan opposition to data centers, with the topic becoming increasingly relevant as the November 3 midterm elections approach.",
  "summary": "The US president has championed data centre development to bolster American dominance in artificial intelligence, despite local concerns over energy and water use.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}