Donald Trump’s enthusiastic backing for artificial intelligence and the data centres needed to run it has prompted a sharp backlash from users on his Truth Social platform, including supporters associated with his Make America Great Again movement.
An analysis of thousands of replies to the president’s posts found that comments criticising artificial intelligence and data centres outnumbered supportive responses by almost four to one.
Truth Social has about six million users and is an important online forum for Mr Trump’s most committed supporters. His posts typically attract strong backing, making the scale of the opposition to his position notable.
Mr Trump said artificial intelligence and the infrastructure behind it would be “the Greatest Economic Development Engine in History — Bigger than Oil, Gold, Diamonds, or even the Internet”.
Many respondents instead raised concerns about the impact of large data centres on rural communities, where they are increasingly being built, particularly in the American South. Some suggested that Mr Trump should construct one at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida estate, to experience the disruption himself.
Others described artificial intelligence and data centres as tools of mass surveillance. Some users who supported Mr Trump’s economic argument nevertheless expressed concern about what might happen after he left office and another leader controlled the technology.
Republicans divided over data centres
The reaction reflects growing unease among Republican voters, who have become increasingly concerned about artificial intelligence and its potential effect on jobs. Raymond La Raja, a political science professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, said the issue was unlikely to sit comfortably with Mr Trump’s base.
“It really doesn’t play well to his base because a lot of those folks are probably worried about A.I. taking their jobs,” he said.
A poll published on Tuesday by the New York Times and Siena University found that 49 per cent of Republicans supported the construction of data centres, while 47 per cent opposed it. Opposition was higher among Democrats, at three quarters, and among independents, at 60 per cent.
Research by the Pew Research Center also found that concern about artificial intelligence among Republicans had risen to half of those surveyed in 2025, from 45 per cent in 2021.
The issue is beginning to feature in tight political contests. In Pennsylvania’s governor’s race, Democratic incumbent Josh Shapiro has signed an executive order calling for stricter safeguards on data centre development, while Republican challenger Stacy Garrity has promised to pause such projects if elected.
Mr Trump’s latest intervention followed the resignation of a researcher at Anthropic, an artificial intelligence company, over fears that the technology was advancing at a dangerous pace.
Responding on Truth Social, Mr Trump said safeguards were unnecessary because the United States was led by a “STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT”. He later called artificial intelligence “the Golden Goose” and said it should not be killed.
He also dismissed fears that artificial intelligence could take over the world or destroy humanity as a “HOAX”, comparing them with the two impeachment efforts against him and the federal investigation into his campaign’s interactions with Russia in 2016.
Mr La Raja said support for the president’s position could quickly fade if the technology caused serious disruption. “If things start to unravel with A.I. and we start seeing major social disruptions, you’re going to see him do a quick reversal,” he said.
