Trump says new large data centers should make their own electricity and pay local communities a dividend, as Unusual Whales reports
President Trump is calling for companies that build large data centers in the US to generate their own electricity. It comes as communities push back on new data centers over rising power bills, and BlackRock’s Larry Fink warns that a moratorium could trigger a recession.
Context
Power costs are now the main political fight over AI data centers, and the president's stance could shape how and where they are built.
Unusual Whales is a market news account, and its post is secondhand. Trump made the statement in a Truth Social post at 1:37 AM ET on October 21, which is not on X, and experts quoted by MarketWatch said only states can mandate how data centers get power.
- Trump's Truth archive: Donald J. Trump on data centers
- CNBC: Trump says data centers should pay communities a dividend to win support
- MarketWatch: Trump says data centers should generate their own electricity, but experts say only states can mandate that
- CNBC: BlackRock's Larry Fink warns a data center moratorium could trigger a recession
- Advance Intelligence: NVIDIA introduces DSX POD factory built AI data centers
Deep dive
On October 21, Unusual Whales posted that President Trump is calling for companies that build large data centers in the US to generate their own electricity, as communities push back over rising power bills and BlackRock's Larry Fink warns that a moratorium could trigger a recession.
Trump's original Truth Social post said new and large data centers are mandated by him to make their own electricity and give or sell any excess back to the local community or grid. As written, it then says therefore there is electric price increase, before adding that there could be a substantial decrease, so he appears to mean prices would not rise. He also urged companies to pay communities, or individuals in them, a dividend, saying data centers that were unpopular became popular once a financial deal was struck.
MarketWatch reported that experts said the federal government lacks the authority for such a mandate, which rests with the states. In March, Trump announced a Ratepayer Protection Pledge under which major AI companies voluntarily agreed to build, bring or buy their own power.
Fink's warning is not new. He made it in a CNBC interview on October 14, saying that if we have a moratorium of some sort in this country, we will be in a recession. Local opposition to data centers has become an issue in the November 3 midterm elections, CNBC reported.
What to expect next
Watch whether the White House issues an executive order or formal guidance, since Trump's post alone does not create a legal requirement. States and utilities may respond with their own rules on data centers supplying power. Also watch whether AI companies announce community payments of the kind Trump described, and how the issue plays in the November 3 midterm elections.