President Donald Trump stated on Friday that data centers could grow into an industry larger than oil, and argued that the United States cannot allow China to take the lead in artificial intelligence or cryptocurrency.

Trump made the remarks during a midterm election interview with Punchbowl News. The comments come amid an unprecedented buildout of AI infrastructure, with major technology companies — including Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Meta — collectively committing hundreds of billions of dollars to data center expansion over the past two years.

"Whoever wins the AI, just wins"

Emphasizing the strategic importance of AI infrastructure, Trump stated plainly: "Whoever wins the AI, just wins."

He described data centers as significant revenue generators for local economies and urged state governors to cut taxes in order to attract these investments rather than create obstacles. He specifically criticized Texas for pushing back, arguing that lower taxes are the decisive factor in securing such projects.

Trump also downplayed concerns about the strain data centers place on the power grid. While acknowledging that these facilities "need more electricity than the entire nation uses," he maintained that the companies building them are constructing their own power plants and will not draw from the public electricity supply. However, regional grid operators such as PJM Interconnection, which serves a corridor including Northern Virginia — the world's largest data center market — have flagged data center load growth as a significant capacity challenge, and many facilities continue to rely on grid-supplied power. Some companies have pursued dedicated generation arrangements, including nuclear power agreements, though these remain a subset of overall construction.

Crypto and the Geopolitical Competition with China

During the same Punchbowl News interview, Trump linked the rapid growth of cryptocurrency and Bitcoin to geopolitical rivalry with Beijing, warning that the U.S. must prevent China from dominating digital assets.

"We don't want to see China take over crypto," he said, adding, "I don't want to see China win with AI."

He noted that China currently holds an energy advantage due to its heavy reliance on fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gas, which provides the power capacity needed for large-scale AI infrastructure expansion. China has designated AI as a national strategic priority under a multi-year government plan, and its leading technology firms — including Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu — have invested heavily in large language models and cloud infrastructure.

The comments reflect the administration's broader policy push for abundant, affordable energy paired with a pro-business stance on blockchain technology.

The Ratepayer Protection Pledge

Trump's domestic agenda faces challenges. On July 23, at an event held at EPA headquarters, Trump expanded a nonbinding initiative intended to shield households from the costs associated with the data center boom, according to E&E News.

Nearly 200 additional companies and utilities, along with close to half of the nation's governors — all Republicans — signed his Ratepayer Protection Pledge, which calls on signatories to limit electricity price increases for homeowners.

"It's only fair that the cost of building the new infrastructure should be borne by the corporations themselves, not by the American consumers," Trump said.

The pledge drew criticism in some quarters, with detractors dismissing it as a symbolic measure designed to shift blame for rising energy costs ahead of the midterm elections. Because the pledge is nonbinding, signatories face no enforcement mechanism if electricity prices continue to climb.

Growing Public Opposition to Data Center Construction

Public resistance to data center development has intensified. A Gallup poll found that 71% of Americans oppose the construction of large data facilities near their communities, with support dropping from 37% to 24%.

The opposition has created friction between local communities and the federal government. Residents in Nevada have protested data center projects on public land, while Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered temporary halts to power and water connections for new facilities so auditors could assess resource consumption.

According to political analysts, projects that face direct local opposition have an approximately fifty-fifty chance of being canceled entirely.