Trump defends Ohio data centers, backs ratepayer bill

President Donald Trump defended the expansion of artificial intelligence data centers at a campaign rally in Vandalia, Ohio, on October 3, arguing that turning projects away could send investment to China. He also endorsed a bill promoted by Republican Sen. Jon Husted that he said would protect households from higher electricity costs, although the measure had not become law. Trump cast data centers as essential to the United States’ competition with China in artificial intelligence and said the country was ahead in the technology race. He argued that Ohio stood to gain financially from the projects and said they should not be rejected. The supplied reporting does not independently establish that data-center projects turned away by the United States would move to China. The rally, outside Dayton, was part of Trump’s campaign push for Husted and Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy ahead of the November 3 midterm elections. The debate over data centers has become a political issue in Ohio and elsewhere as communities weigh investment against concerns about electricity demand and who will pay for the infrastructure needed to serve large facilities.