U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a healthcare affordability event
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office at the White House on August 31, 2026 in Washington, DC. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Donald Trump told Americans fighting data center construction in their communities they would end up "backwards and poor" in a Truth Social post Monday, hours after a Wall Street research note quantified just how fast Republican voters have turned against the projects.

"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," Trump wrote, adding that opponents should "let Data Reign" instead. He went further, arguing China "could not be happier with this anti Data Center movement," according to CNBC.

The post landed as Wolfe Research told investors it has tracked "60-point drops in net support for local data center construction across party lines over the past 12 months," calling the scale of the backlash "genuinely breathtaking." The research note, issued August 28, is separate from a National Republican Senatorial Committee memo circulated August 18 that warned data centers had left Ohio Senator Jon Husted in a "dead heat" with Democratic challenger Sherrod Brown ahead of a special election — and that a Husted loss could make Republicans nationwide "take notice" and steer clear of future projects.

Vice President JD Vance, asked about Trump's remarks Monday, tied the backlash to utility costs rather than the technology itself. "I think probably 99% of the backlash to data centers has come in areas where building a data center means higher utilities and higher electricity for the people on the ground," Vance said.

Polling has shown the same trend. A Gallup survey from March found roughly seven in ten Americans oppose data centers near their homes, with nearly half strongly opposed. Data center construction has pushed average wholesale electricity prices up 2% to 6% nationwide as U.S. power consumption hit a record last year.

The Ohio race remains the test case Republicans are watching most closely as the party weighs how to respond to Trump's position ahead of November.