FACT CHECK: Trump Lies About “Unleashing All Forms of Energy” to Power AI

Washington, D.C. — Donald Trump claimed that he was unleashing all forms of energy to power AI – just weeks after his Republican Rate Hike dismantled clean energy, and as his administration blocks clean energy approvals. Trump told an audience full of AI executives that “we are unleashing all forms of energy, including natural gas, oil and clean, beautiful coal.”

Here are the facts: 

FACT: Trump’s Republican Rate Hike bill gutted federal support for the clean energy industry, “intentionally handicapping more easily and faster-built wind, solar, and battery storage projects that would help satiate the massive data-center power demands.”

FACT: Politico: “Trump switches off power line project financing amid AI scramble for new energy”

FACT: Washington Post: “How the Trump tax bill could help China win at A.I.”

FACT: Trump is decimating the wind and solar industries, which made up 94% of new electric-generating capacity in 2024, along with battery storage.

FACT: Clean energy is the least expensive and quickest power generation source to add to the grid, while the cost to build gas power plants has tripled. 

FACT: AI data centers could cause a 70% increase in electric bills by 2029 due to increased demand.

FACT: Generative AI systems like OpenAI’s ChatGPT will require approximately 84 GW of power by 2030, the equivalent of adding another Texas to the grid, but the Republican Rate Hike’s slashing of clean energy incentives will cause power generation to fall 340 GW by 2035. 

FACT: Wait times for gas-fired turbines are as much as seven years, while solar and wind energy are being deployed five times faster than all other energy sources combined.

FACT: According to the Department of Energy, solar energy, onshore wind, battery storage, and energy efficiency are some of the most rapidly scalable and cost-competitive ways to meet the increased energy demand from data centers.