Just Announced: AOC Reveals Mar-a-Lago Data Center Pitch Today
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wanted to make a point about wealth. She told a podcast host a simple idea. This was not a policy proposal; it was a taunt.
She doubled down on the joke later. The target was clear. She framed these huge buildings as a tool for the rich to hurt the poor.
But the location she picked already has a center. Cloud South operates a facility in Palm Beach. It sits under 2 miles from the resort. The irony is thick. The very place she mocked is already hosting the industry she claims to hate.
President Donald Trump did not ignore the jab. He took to Truth Social on Monday to set the record straight. He argued that opposing these centers is a choice for failure.
He made the economic case for growth. He warned that blocking this progress would hurt the country. He stated that if the industry is killed, the blame would lie with the opposition, according to the New York Post.
He also pointed a finger at foreign rivals. Trump asserted that China remains pleased by the movement opposing data centers. The President sees this as a battle for American dominance.
Does a data center bring jobs to your town? The answer is not as simple as the politicians say. A December 2024 report from Virginia’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission found a typical 250,000-square-foot project employs roughly 50 full-time workers.
Even more telling, roughly half of those workers are contractors, not locals.
Wright noted that while this can be “not-insignificant in a rural community,” many of those jobs are filled by outside contractors rather than local workers, according to the Daily Caller. The promise of a local job boom may be overstated. Long-term growth might be there. Brookings indicates that roughly 2,000 to 4,000 extra private-sector jobs appear in a county approximately six years after its initial large data center begins operation.
Despite the political fighting, the public has a clear view. A Gallup poll conducted in March revealed that seven out of 10 Americans oppose hosting centers within their local area. People do not want them next door.
The preference is stark. A May Gallup poll found people would rather see a nuclear power plant built in their neighborhood than a data center. The backlash is growing fast. While some Republican officials think Chinese influence operations are fueling this to harm the economy, proof has not emerged.