Trump-Vance Administration’s ‘Golden Age of AI’ Spells Gilded Age for Everyone Else

Washington, DC – While public approval for AI and data centers continues to plummet, the Trump-Vance administration is cozying up to their Big Tech billionaire donors responsible for jacking up Americans’ utility prices and polluting our air and water.  

Today’s White House meeting is another event to benefit Trump, JD Vance, and Republicans’ Big Tech donor class while American families deal with sky-high utility and energy bills. With 35 days to the midterms, Republicans are feeling the heat. But instead of standing up to Trump and donors like Elon Musk, they’re making it easier for data center expansions to drive their donors’ profits. Research shows AI data centers could cause a 70% increase in electric bills by 2029 due to increased demand.

Climate Power Senior Advisor Jesse Lee issued the following statement: “While Trump brags about a ‘Golden Age,’ America is feeling another Gilded Age. And while Republicans spend their days posturing against data centers, by night they’re joining Trump to wine and dine the exact same tech billionaires who have helped jack up our utility bills and pollute our communities. Billionaire Elon Musk, who owns the biggest, dirtiest data centers in America, is also joining Trump to bankroll Congressional campaigns from Jon Husted in Ohio, to Ken Paxton in Texas, to Susan Collins in Maine. Trump and Musk both know they can expect rubber stamps to help stomp out opposition in any ‘backwards and poor’ community that dares object.”

REMINDER: Big Tech has spent at least $653 million to win favor with Trump and Republicans according to a report from Public Citizen. 

• Republicans gave tax breaks to Big Tech companies in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, helping supercharge their massive data center expansion. 
• The House GOP passed their SPEED Act to fast-track data centers past environmental review and community objections.
• Trump’s push for data centers to build their own fossil fuel power plants could raise utility bills: data center demand was expected to cause gas turbine costs to spike by 195%, which analysts warned could raise electricity prices despite technology companies’ pledges to pay for their own power.
• Trump is out of step with the American people on data centers and is advocating to ‘let Data reign’ while ramming data centers through without any guardrails.
• In December 2025, the Trump administration established a data center team within the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, aimed at helping companies skirt protections as part of the administration’s AI push.