Trump Blames Data Center Backlash on Possible ‘China PR Thing’

President Donald Trump suggested that major bipartisan criticism of data centers might be “a China PR thing,” warning that without them, Americans would be left “poor” with “no jobs.”

The president made the remarks during an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, the first part of which aired on Thursday’s edition of The Ingraham Angle, followed by the second installment on Friday’s show.

On the politically contentious issue of data centers, Ingraham asked, “Why do people not want them in their backyard?”

“I mean, a lot of people say it’s China,” Trump responded. “A lot of people say that it’s a China PR thing.”

He went on, “I notice Google is building one now in Europe. I’m not happy about that. They’re building one in Finland, and I’m saying, ‘Why are they building one in Finland?’ We cannot be the stupid people that chase them out.”

“So your message to the Americans on this?” Ingraham inquired.

“My message is that, do what you want, but if you wanna be poor, have no jobs, and watch other countries do great, or other states do great,” Trump said, “they will go other places. If you wanna make a lot of money, if you wanna make a lot more money than you’ve ever made before, if you wanna see your house go up, your education get better, I would suggest you — now, you used the word ‘guardrails.’ Put ’em in the right areas, but you don’t wanna kill the golden goose, because that’s what you’d be doing. You would be killing the golden goose. This is the oil of the next 50 years, in many ways.”

Trump has long been public about his support for data centers, telling Americans they will “end up being backwards and poor” without them in August, despite a July Fox News survey that found 70% of voters opposed to building one in their area, including 76% of Democrats and 60% of Republicans.

Not to mention, CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten called data centers “electoral poison” last month in reference to the survey, pointing out that opposition also spans geographical divides, with 75% of rural voters and 63% of urban voters saying they do not want one built near them. Even among MAGA-identified Republicans — the group most supportive of data centers in the Fox poll — just 46% favored their construction nearby.

Watch above on Fox News.

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