Trump Vows Data Centers Are Just Tiny, Beautiful Power Plant Palaces
KEY POINTS
- â˘President Trump defended expanding data centers in an interview with Michael Cohen aired Sunday, emphasizing job creation and AI leadership over China.
- â˘Texas Governor Greg Abbott and other state leaders imposed fees and moratoriums due to community backlash and the impact on electrical infrastructure.
- â˘The EPA recently allowed data centers with their own power plants to bypass certain Clean Air Act rules, aligning with Trump's policy to make operators cover infrastructure costs.
In a mesmerizing radio chat with his former fixer Michael Cohen, recorded last week but broadcast Sunday, President Trump defended data centers like they were the rebels of energy consumptionâclaiming they build their own 'most beautiful' power plants that apparently moonlight as job factories. Despite Greg Abbott calling data centers 'digging their own grave' over local backlash, Trump soared above reality insisting these digital beasts donât touch the electric grid and are crushing China in AI, 'by a lot.' Meanwhile, Pennsylvaniaâs Josh Shapiro and New Yorkâs Kathy Hochul reacted with moratoriums and infrastructure charges. The EPA winked last month, letting some data centers evade acid rain rules if they generate their own power, while Trump's Ratepayer Protection Pledge basically tells data centers, âYou break it, you buy itââthe kind of RSVP that screams freedom or bankruptcy.
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(1 of 3)Trump praises data centers as âbeautiful power plantsâ while states throw them a âpay your electric bills or elseâ party and America wonders if servers need Uber for their power plants.
If data centers really made their own power, why does Texas want them footing the grid bill like the worldâs biggest electric bar tab?
Trump says data centers crush China in AI but also insists they donât drain power. Is this the energetic equivalent of paying for a gym membership and never going?
Source: Axios | Published: 8/23/2026 | Author: Rebecca Falconer
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