It’s Donald Trump Versus MAGA on Data Centers | WIREDSkip to main contentTHE WIRED APP IS HEREDOWNLOAD NOW »MenuWIREDSECURITYPOLITICSTHE BIG STORYBUSINESSSCIENCECULTUREREVIEWSMenuWIREDAccountAccountNewslettersSecurityPoliticsThe Big StoryBusinessScienceCultureReviewsChevronMoreExpandThe Big InterviewMagazineEventsWIRED InsiderWIRED ConsultingNewslettersPodcastsVideoLivestreamsWIRED StoreSearchSearchMolly TaftPoliticsSep 20, 2026 6:30 AMIt’s Donald Trump Versus MAGA on Data CentersThe president has doubled down on data centers and AI. His base is running in the opposite direction.Photo-Illustration: WIRED Staff; Getty ImagesCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyWelcome back to Power Play! Each week, senior writer Molly Taft tackles a topic around this midterm season’s biggest issue: data centers. If you’ve got a question or thought for the column, feel free to shoot Molly an email at [email protected] or reach them securely on Signal at mollytaft.76.Molly McCann Sanders has a lot in common with many of the other women who helped Donald Trump win a second term as president. A pro-life Catholic who lives in Texas, she has staunchly conservative opinions on immigration and a fierce hatred of eminent domain—the practice of the government taking private property for public use.Sanders, the president of the Eagle Forum Education & Legal Defense Fund, which was started by Phyllis Schlafly, also describes herself as “a crunchy MAHA mom”—and says she’s been paying particular attention to data centers.“I'm alarmed by the idea that these data centers can move in and pollute,” she tells me. “I'm not a data center expert. I'm not a tech expert. But I’m suspicious and wary, and want to move slowly.”She loves Trump, “but I think he’s wrong about data centers,” she says. And she sees the GOP’s effort to court what she calls “the laptop class”—young men who are enthusiastic about technology—at the Republican midterm convention earlier this month as a huge misstep with midterms nearing.McCann Sanders isn’t alone. More than 60 percent of Americans, including 47 percent of Republicans, say they are opposed to the construction of data centers in a poll released by The New York Times last week. In August, the National Republican Senatorial Committee sent a private memo to AI companies sounding the alarm on how voters perceive data centers, warning that “campaign or party committees can not fix the toxic brand of an entire segment of the economy.” Last week, GOP strategist Tony Fabrizio issued a memo to the party’s candidates claiming that “unqualified support for building more AI data centers is a losing position.”But the GOP is facing one big hurdle: Trump himself. In recent weeks, facing mounting scrutiny on his policies and support for the industry, Trump has doubled down on his defense of both data centers and AI. In late August, he wrote in a Truth Social post that only communities that wanted to be “backwards and poor” would refuse data centers coming to town.Last week, he issued yet another series of posts boosting AI data centers. Users on his own Truth Social platform pushed back. An analysis from The New York Times of thousands of responses found that anti-data-center and anti-AI comments—including from staunch MAGA accounts—outnumbered positive comments by four to one.Sanders says she sometimes “looks past” the wilder things Trump says, but she can’t fully overlook his pro-data-center rhetoric.“That is not the right way to go about this,” she says of the “backwards and poor” post. “We do have legitimate concerns. There are real problems.”My colleague Hugo Lowell, who covers the White House and writes our Inner Loop newsletter, says he’s not surprised by Trump’s attitude. “He’s bullish on AI,” he tells me. “He’s been told that restricting data center development means restricting compute, which means the US loses to China.”The China competition angle is being publicly echoed by tech accelerationists and White House allies, including former White House AI czar David Sacks and investor and Palantir cofounder Joe Lonsdale. The latter debated Steve Bannon’s tech editor Joe Allen—whom I profiled last month—at an auxiliary event during the convention. That conversation between Lonsdale and Allen, Sanders says, was the only time she heard data centers brought up during the entire midterm convention.There’s some evidence that voters haven’t quite made up their minds on how heavily to weigh the issue—and which party to trust. The New York Times poll found that AI and data centers rank far down the list of voters’ priorities, and almost 20 percent say they don’t know which party would handle the issue better.And candidates otherwise aligned with Trump may just decide to ignore cues from the White House. Tom Tiffany, the Republican nominee for governor in Wisconsin, has scored Trump’s endorsement. But he’s also attacked his Democratic opponent David Crowley for what Tiffany claims are pro-data-center views.But despite breaks like Tiffany’s and concerns like Sanders’, Trump “thinks MAGA at the end of the day will back him—on Epstein, on Iran, on AI,” Hugo says.What We’re WritingHaven’t you always wished that data centers were a little more cuddly? You’re in luck! My colleague Boone Ashworth wrote about a new server-shaped plushie with gangly limbs and a little smiley face, called Bezzy. (Adorable!) When you squeeze him, he emits a terrible droning noise—real audio recorded by people living next to a data center in Virginia.Bezzy is part of a larger project designed to raise awareness about data center expansion in the US. The plush toy is one of the many ways the data center backlash is taking shape.“Personally, I love Bezzy and want to adopt one,” Boone says. “Also, it makes me very grateful I don't live near a data center. I really feel for people who do.”What We’re ReadingThe Washington Sun reports that the Interior Department is considering at least 12 data center proposals across at least 17,600 acres of public land—far more than had been previously reported.Writer Natalie Fertig traveled to a swing district in Pennsylvania to take the political pulse of anti-data-center organizers there. Despite their success in blocking a big data center project, many of the folks she interviewed in both political parties felt like politicians didn’t care about them.Amazon admitted this week that it had permanently lost customer data that was stored in data centers hit by Iranian drone strikes earlier this year. Reuters broke the story.Virginia governor Abigail Spanberger signed an executive order on Friday that creates a state AI task force and may limit data centers. The latter is particularly notable given that the state is home to Data Center Alley, a global hot spot for the facilities. Read more about the order in The Verge.CommentsBack to topJoin the discussionCommentsBack to topTriangleYou Might Also LikeIn your inbox: WIRED's most ambitious, future-defining storiesAI slop backlash is actually having an impactBig Story: The cop who took on FlockThe rise of the 1am job interviewWatch: I stole a car by hacking this hidden deviceMolly Taft is a senior writer for WIRED, covering climate change, energy, and the environment. Previously, they were a reporter and editor at Drilled, an investigative climate multimedia reporting project. Before that, they wrote about climate change and technology for Gizmodo, and served as a contributing editor for the New ... Read MoreSenior Writer, ClimateTopicsdata centersDonald TrumprepublicansPower Playartificial intelligencepoliticsPolicygovernmentRead MoreCandidates Are Signing a Pact Promising Action on Data Centers and AI SafetyMore than 15 politicians from across the country have signed on to the AI Pact, vowing to regulate data centers and AI. “We’ve got to get this right,” says Senate candidate Dan Osborn of Nebraska.Molly TaftWhy China Is the Bogeyman Data Center Enthusiasts Just Can’t QuitPolls show that overwhelming majorities of Americans hate data centers. China makes a perfect scapegoat for tech leaders and their allies—the only problem is a lack of evidence.Molly TaftThe Census Bureau Is Overrun With Staffers From a MAGA Think TankThe US Census is home to vast troves of sensitive data on nearly every person living in the country, which is used for apportioning and drawing congressional districts as well as allocating federal funding based on population sizes.Vittoria ElliottAI PACs Have Dumped Nearly $1 Million Into an Obscure Senate RaceThe reliably Republican South Dakota senate seat has an incumbent on the ballot. But PACs associated with AI labs and investors have already spent more money on the race than actual residents have.Hugo LowellThe Leftist Split Over AI DoomThe left wants AI regulation. They just can’t agree on what it should look like or how concerned they should be.Vittoria ElliottA US Census Report on Noncitizen Voting Used Bad Data to Reach Faulty ConclusionsTrump has touted a recent Census report. WIRED found grave flaws in its analysis and the process behind it, and confirmed the identity of several of its authors—among them a one-time DOGE affiliate.Vittoria ElliottHundreds of Election Deniers Will Be on the Ballot This November197 election deniers are running for Congress or statewide office in 43 states. Many of them are seeking roles that would put them in charge of voting for the 2028 presidential election.David GilbertDemocrats Just Might Win the SenateStrategists in both parties have long thought that everything would need to go right for Democrats to take over Congress this fall. Their map, though, is becoming more forgiving.Hugo LowellNvidia CEO Jensen Huang Took a Call From Donald Trump in the Middle of an All-HandsThe unexpected interruption came hours before the president wrote a congratulatory post on Truth Social about the company’s most recent earnings report.Lauren GoodeAdopt This Data Center Plushie and Hear Its Piercing ScreamThe satirical collaboration between a creative studio and the music producer behind Big Data, “Bezzy” is a cute little doll that spews the sounds of real data centers.Boone AshworthWashington Won’t Be Regulating AI Anytime SoonEven with mounting concerns about AI models going rogue, legislation appears unlikely, and the White House is outright opposed to oversight.Hugo LowellWaffle House Teleporter Gregg Phillips Is Still on the Trump Administration’s PayrollIn June, a FEMA official infamous for claiming to have teleported to a Waffle House was reportedly ousted. He’s still employed by the government, though—and meeting with a Trump fixer.David GilbertWIRED is obsessed with what comes next. Through rigorous investigations and game-changing reporting, we tell stories that don’t just reflect the moment—they help create it. When you look back in 10, 20, even 50 years, WIRED will be the publication that led the story of the present, mapped the people, products, and ideas defining it, and explained how those forces forged the future. WIRED: For Future Reference.More From WIREDSubscribeNewslettersDownload the WIRED AppLivestreamsTravelFAQContact UsWIRED StaffWIRED EducationEditorial StandardsArchiveRSSSite MapAccessibility HelpReviews and GuidesReviewsBuying GuidesStreaming GuidesCouponsAdvertiseManage AccountJobsPress CenterCondé Nast StoreUser AgreementPrivacy PolicyYour California Privacy Rights© 2026 Condé Nast. All rights reserved. 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The political dynamic surrounding data centers and artificial intelligence reveals a significant divergence between Donald Trump's position and the direction of his base. While the president has intensified his advocacy for data centers and AI, the opposing segment of the electorate is exhibiting considerable opposition. For instance, Molly McCann Sanders, who shares conservative views, expressed alarm regarding the potential for data centers to cause pollution, advocating for a cautious approach rather than uncritical enthusiasm. Sanders views the Republican Party's effort to attract the "laptop class" of technologically enthusiastic young men as a misstep, suggesting that unqualified support for building more AI data centers is counterproductive.

This sentiment of opposition is supported by broader polling data; a recent New York Times poll indicated that over sixty percent of Americans, including forty-seven percent of Republicans, oppose the construction of data centers. This underlying skepticism is reflected in political strategy, as private memos circulated by the National Republican Senatorial Committee to technology companies warned that political entities could not rectify the perceived toxic brand of a segment of the economy. Furthermore, GOP strategists have argued that unqualified support for expanding AI data centers is a losing political position.

Despite these widespread reservations among voters, Trump has doubled down on his defense of the industry and AI, evidenced by public statements suggesting that only communities that wished to be "backwards and poor" would refuse data centers. This rhetoric contrasts with the concerns raised by figures like Sanders, who emphasize legitimate environmental and practical problems related to infrastructure expansion. An analysis of social media responses on Trump's own platform further illustrates this divide, showing that anti-data-center and anti-AI comments from staunch MAGA accounts outnumbered positive comments by a factor of four to one.

The narrative surrounding data centers is also influenced by geopolitical competition, with some allies and figures, including former White House AI czar David Sacks and investor Joe Lonsdale, echoing the notion that restricting data center development restricts computational power and thus puts the United States at a disadvantage against China. This perspective is echoed by some leaders in the administration. However, the public remains undecided on how to weigh these competing concerns or which political party is best positioned to manage these issues, as polls show that AI and data centers rank low on voters' priorities, with almost twenty percent admitting they do not know which party would handle the situation better.

The consequences and awareness surrounding this expansion are manifesting in various ways. Activism is taking physical form, exemplified by projects like the creation of the Bezzy plush toy, a server-shaped item that emits audio recordings of noise from actual data centers, serving as a method to raise public awareness about expansion. Furthermore, legal and governmental actions are emerging; the Interior Department is considering numerous data center proposals across extensive public lands, and Virginia has established a state AI task force with the potential to limit data center development, particularly in areas like Data Center Alley. Corporate accountability is also being scrutinized, as Amazon acknowledged the permanent loss of customer data stored in data centers affected by drone strikes. Ultimately, the discourse touches upon broader themes of trust in government, the effective regulation of emerging technologies, and the influence of political alignment on technological priorities.