By The Daily Caller (U.S.) | Created at 2026-09-01 19:45:07 | Updated at 2026-09-04 05:44:24
2 days ago
President Trump bashed the anti-data-center movement earlier this week on Truth Social, putting himself at odds with populist opposition to data centers.
“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,” said Trump. “If they want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign.”
Anger across the country over the spread of data centers has intensified in recent months, as populists on both the American left and right have placed particular emphasis on the issue. For them, the data centers represent the trampling of small-town America, and the rapid expansion of oligarchic power.
Trump — whose 2024 campaign received significant financial assistance from players in the artificial intelligence industry — has worked closely with tech companies throughout his second term.
Many have defended the rapid expansion of data centers as “free markets” at work. As a libertarian, I am a firm supporter of free markets. The data center boom has not been born out of voluntary economic exchanges, however.
Rather, much of it is the result of government cronyism.
Take the recent news that the Trump administration is planning to repurpose federal land to build more artificial intelligence data center infrastructure. In this instance, the government has decided that it is in its best interests — competing with China — to sell off land that has been funded by taxpayers for decades. NextEra Energy, which will be partnering with the federal government in this venture, also donated $1 million to the Trump Vance Inaugural Committee, Inc. in 2025.
Beyond the government’s data center policy, artificial intelligence companies have also received gifts from the federal government in other ways. Palantir Technologies, chaired by Peter Thiel, has received billions of dollars in government contracts. In 2025, they secured a $10 billion contract with the U.S. Army. They were also given $30 million by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for assisting the agency with its “identification and targeting for enforcement.”
The administration has taken a selective approach regarding which private companies they collaborate with — basing their partnerships on the company’s willingness to do the government’s bidding. The most well-known example of this in the artificial intelligence world happened earlier this year, when the Pentagon declared Anthropic a “supply-chain risk.” This clash came after the tech company refused to allow the Pentagon to use its artificial intelligence system, Claude, to operate deadly autonomous weapons or to conduct large-scale surveillance.
The Pentagon would go on to blacklist Anthropic from government contracts, a move that would ultimately be ruled illegal.
I explain this dynamic to make the point that this industry doesn’t operate in a free market environment. The success of these major corporations is heavily dictated by their ability to cozy up to whatever presidential administration is in power. Therefore, it is not incumbent on defenders of capitalism and free markets to support these practices.
There is an even more foundational takeaway from the Trump administration’s prioritization of these projects, however. A resentment against the big government-big business alliance was a core aspect of Trump’s 2016 brand. In his speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention, he played on the base’s skepticism toward the global elite. When describing Hillary Clinton’s donors, he said, “they have total control over every single thing she does.”
“She is their puppet, and they pull the strings.”
This scathing critique of the partnership between government and industrial elites struck a grassroots chord and made many a “forgotten man” feel heard. In a devastating twist, however, it is now this administration that is engaged in the rigging of the economy against regular people, and in favor of government-friendly corporations.
A radical diversion from the promises of 2016.
Perhaps some are willing to look past the domestic tensions caused by government economic manipulation, believing that competition with China is worth it. For me, the expansion of mass surveillance and the warfare state, mixed with the embrace of the damaging friendship between big government and big business, is simply too much to bear.
Nolan Denaro is an independent political analyst, writer, and host of “The Quest For Clarity” podcast, which can be found on YouTube and Spotify. He writes on U.S. foreign policy, economics, and current events, with a particular focus on war and imperialism.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller.
