Trump Defends Data Centres at Ohio Rally, Warns Blocked Projects Would Go to China

President Donald Trump defended the rapid construction of artificial intelligence data centres during a campaign rally in southwestern Ohio on Saturday, warning that blocking the projects would hand a strategic advantage to China.

“Look, there’s so much money to be made for Ohio. You can’t just turn them off. They’ll go to China,” Trump told supporters in Vandalia, outside Dayton, according to the New York Post and Associated Press reporting.

Trump linked the data centre boom to the global competition over artificial intelligence, telling the crowd that the United States was ahead of China in what he repeatedly called “superintelligence”. He said his administration was taking “historic action” to make sure the large technology companies behind the facilities benefit surrounding communities.

The massive campuses have become a contentious campaign issue nationwide, drawing bipartisan opposition over their impact on electricity prices, farmland and water supplies, according to the AP. The issue is especially acute in Ohio, where Senator Jon Husted has faced attack advertising blaming him for attracting data centres to the state as lieutenant governor.

Trump campaigned for Husted — appointed to fill the Senate seat vacated by Vice President JD Vance — and for gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, repeatedly asking the crowd to “pretend I’m on the ballot” ahead of the November 3 midterm elections, per the Cincinnati Enquirer’s live coverage.

He backed legislation pushed by Husted aimed at stopping data centres from raising household electricity costs and making the facilities “pay their own way”, claiming nearly every Senate Democrat had voted to block the measure days earlier. InterNewscast reports Trump promised to sign the Ratepayer Protection Act “into law immediately within 24 hours” if Republicans win the elections.

The Cincinnati Enquirer noted the crowd, which had cheered other policy remarks enthusiastically, was far more muted during the data centre section of the speech. An April poll by Bowling Green State University found most Ohio respondents believed data centres were bad for home energy costs and the environment.

Sources

• New York Post: Trump defends data centers in Ohio, warns they’ll go to China
• AP: Trump defends data centers in Ohio as he rallies to boost Jon Husted
• Cincinnati Enquirer: Trump rallies voters in Ohio as midterms approach