Trump: "Companies Should Pay Dividends to Communities Where They Build Data Centers"

Opposition spreads nationwide over electricity bills and environmental concerns
Effort to win over voters ahead of November midterms
Proposal to pay $10,000 per Pennsylvania household

U.S. President Donald Trump argued that companies should provide financial compensation to local communities to ease residents’ opposition to the construction of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers.

A technician works at an Amazon Web Services (AWS) artificial intelligence (AI) data center in New Carlisle, Indiana, U.S., on Oct. 2, 2025 (local time). Reuters-Yonhap News Agency

On October 21 (local time), Trump wrote on Truth Social, the social media platform he founded, that “if companies want to make data centers popular facilities, they should pay a ‘dividend’ to the community or to individual residents.” He added, “I’ve watched this process closely, and data centers that faced fierce opposition in certain areas became very popular with residents once financial agreements were reached.”

His remarks come as opposition to AI data center construction intensifies in the United States. In recent years, the rapid increase in AI data center construction has fueled growing resistance among residents concerned about rising electricity bills caused by increased power consumption, water shortages and environmental pollution. Opposition has been strong across the political spectrum, making the issue a major political flashpoint ahead of the midterm elections in November.

In one case, a developer offered residents substantial cash compensation. According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), U.S. real estate developer NorthPoint Development proposed paying about 4,500 local households $10,000 each (about KRW 13.24 million) in exchange for building a data center in Pennsylvania. It also promised to provide an additional $120 million in community benefits over the next 15 years, including support for police and emergency services. However, local residents reportedly continue to oppose the project over concerns about noise, environmental damage and declining property values. The local government has also rejected the project over zoning issues, prompting a legal dispute with the developer.

Despite strong opposition from residents, the AI industry is finding it difficult to halt data center construction. Wall Street views power shortages as a key “bottleneck” holding back the growth of the AI industry. In a report in September, global investment bank UBS cited nine North American data center projects totaling about 7 GW that had been delayed or canceled, and warned that power supply issues and other factors could postpone returns on AI investments.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.