By Jack
President Trump just put Big Tech on notice: America can win the artificial intelligence race, but American families should not be forced to subsidize the massive data centers powering it.
His new demand is simple. The companies building giant data centers should provide their own electricity, return excess power to the surrounding grid, and share some of the financial upside directly with the communities that host them.
In other words, build big — but make the deal work for the American people.
🚨 IT’S OFFICIAL: President Trump says new SI Data Centers should PAY the Americans who live there a “dividend” on top of feeding their own electricity back into the grid
Amazing idea! 👏🏻
"As the President of the United States, I have been watching Data Centers very closely,… pic.twitter.com/HnbMYNtU9p
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 21, 2026
Full transcript: “As the President of the United States, I have been watching Data Centers very closely, and have come to a very strong conclusion. New and large, in some cases gigantic, Data enters are mandated by me to make their own electricity, and give or sell any excess back to the local community, or grid, and therefore there is electric price increase.
In fact, there could be a substantial decrease. Other elements likewise!
If companies want to make their Data Centers popular, pay the community, and/or individuals within the community, a ‘dividend.’ I have watched the process closely, and Data Centers that were highly unpopular in a certain area, have become extremely popular when a financial deal is struck.
MAKE DEALS, and get them built!!! GREAT FOR THE U.S.A. President DJT”
In a Wednesday morning post, President Trump on Truth Social said he has been watching the data-center buildout closely and reached a firm conclusion: new and especially large facilities should make their own electricity, then give or sell any excess back to the local community or grid. He argued that this model could help prevent household power-price increases and potentially push prices lower. Trump then went a major step further, saying developers that want local support should pay the community — or the people living in it — a “dividend.”
That is an unmistakably America First bargain.
Trump is not telling the technology industry to stop building. He is telling it to stop expecting ordinary ratepayers to carry the risk while some of the richest companies on Earth collect the reward.