President Donald Trump criticized the rising wave of anti-data center sentiment, clashing with his administration’s aggressive efforts to build out the domestic artificial intelligence sector.

Trump has placed a concerted focus on making the U.S. the global leader in AI, but voters have steadily voiced concerns about building the data centers needed to power the technology over concerns that they will raise utility prices in the areas where they are constructed.

“The only reason that communities throughout the U.S.A. should not want Data Centers is if they want to end up being backwards and poor,” the president wrote on Truth Social Monday morning. “If they want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign. The good news is that there are plenty of other places that want them. If we kill the Golden Goose, you will only have yourselves to blame.”

Trump added that “China could not be happier with this anti Data Center movement” and “can’t believe” that voters have made the topic a top issue ahead of the November midterm elections.

The president’s comments go significantly further than past comments he’s made regarding the national data center buildout, even as 2026 Republican candidates look to thread the needle between supporting the president’s platform and addressing voters’ affordability concerns.

Earlier in August, Trump said he “absolutely” would look to build a data center in his community if he were a state or local politician, while acknowledging that AI companies could “use a little public relations help.”

Trump also said recently that he didn’t care if Republican candidates split with him on the issue. “If a Republican’s against the data center, that’s OK with me,” Trump told reporters before a campaign stop in South Carolina earlier this month.