Ocasio-Cortez: ‘Put a data center up in Mar-a-Lago’

Progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) quipped Monday that a company should build an AI data center near President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, after he said communities will be “backwards and poor” if they oppose the construction of such facilities.

“How about we put one in Mar-a-Lago? I love that. Let’s put a data center up in Mar-a-Lago, we’ll see how backwards and poor he is in response to that,” Ocasio-Cortez told MeidasTouch’s Pablo Manríquez on Capitol Hill.

The president said Monday that communities pushing back on AI data centers will face negative economic consequences, saying the “only reason” they would not want the facilities “is if they want to end up being backwards and poor.”

Trump wrote on Truth Social , “If they want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign. The good news is that there are plenty of other places that want them.”

Cloud South operates a data center less than 2 miles from Mar-a-Lago, located in Palm Beach, Fla. Last month, Palm Beach County commissioners voted against the development of another AI data center in the area, requiring the “Project Tango” team to resubmit its proposal.

Early in his second term, the president framed the AI race as one the country must win over China. But administration officials have in recent months acknowledged potential safety risks of new models.

A survey Fox News conducted last month found 70 percent of respondents opposed the construction of an AI data center in their area. That included 6 in 10 Republicans and more than three-fourths of Democrats.

Trump said Monday that China “could not be happier with this anti Data Center movement” in the U.S., adding Chinese leaders “can’t believe it is happening!”

GOP Rep. Tim Burchett (Tenn.) pushed back against the president’s remarks on Monday, telling Manríquez, “I guess I’m backwards and poor,”

The Tennessee Republican said, “We need more local control. We should have brought everybody to the table,” adding companies could build data centers in military installations instead of communities.

Trump has given Republican candidates wiggle room on AI , saying last month that “some people feel differently” on the issue .

“I’m only saying that if I ran a community … if I was a mayor or if I was a governor in the state, I would want to have the data centers because they bring tremendous income,” he told reporters.