President Donald Trump said early Wednesday that new and large data centers should produce their own electricity and return or sell any surplus to the surrounding community or grid, according to Fox News. In a post on Truth Social, the president also urged companies to pay residents a "dividend" so that data center projects gain local backing.
The statement was reported by Fox News and picked up by other outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, CNBC and Reuters, which focused on the electricity and community-payment elements of the post.
Why it matters
Data centers that support artificial intelligence consume large amounts of power and water, and projects around the country have run into local resistance. Trump's position, as described by Fox News, is meant to keep ordinary electricity customers from absorbing the cost of powering the AI industry.
The post also signals that the White House wants to shape how AI infrastructure is built, not just how it is regulated. By tying new facilities to self-generated power and community payments, the administration is pushing companies to address the local costs of their projects directly.
Self-supplied power and surplus back to the grid
In the post, Trump wrote that he had been monitoring data center development closely and had reached what he called a strong conclusion. He said new and large facilities, which he described as sometimes gigantic, are required by him to make their own electricity. Any excess power, he added, should be given or sold back to the local community or grid.
According to Fox News, the president argued that this approach would prevent electricity prices from rising and could in fact bring them down substantially. He also suggested other elements of data center operations could follow the same pattern, though the post did not detail what those elements were.
The post did not specify how such a requirement would be enforced, whether through legislation, federal agency action or another mechanism. Fox News reported the comments as a stated position rather than a finalized policy.
A "dividend" for host communities
Trump also advised technology companies to share the financial upside with the places where they build. In the post, he said firms that want their data centers to be popular should pay the community, or individuals within it, a "dividend."
He said he had watched projects that were highly unpopular in a given area become extremely popular once a financial deal was reached. The post closed with an appeal for companies to make deals and get projects built, which he called great for the United States.
The remarks echo recent suggestions from Anthropic and Elon Musk that some of the financial gains from artificial intelligence should be distributed to the public. Fox News noted that the president's comments follow those proposals.
What to watch
Whether the administration turns the position into formal policy, and how data center operators and host communities respond, will determine whether the approach changes how AI infrastructure is sited and paid for.
