President-elect Donald Trump announced a $20 billion foreign investment in new data centers Tuesday.
The pronouncement came during Trump’s pre-inauguration press conference at Mar-A-Lago, his second since his November victory. The $20 billion investment will come from Billionaire Hussain Sajwani, a Trump associate and founder of the property development company DAMAC Properties. (RELATED: ‘Amazing Idea’: Scott Jennings Says Buying Greenland Would Be ‘A Great Legacy Piece’ For Donald Trump)
“The Trump Data Center announcement today is his agenda coming to life before he even takes office,” former Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz wrote on X Tuesday. “Data centers use lots of energy. They go where energy is most efficient, obviously. There is an expectation that American energy costs will come down. Thus, the billions are being invested here, not elsewhere.”
Power-hungry data centers have sprung up across the U.S. in recent years, with an August 2024 report from global real estate services company JLL finding data center occupancy has grown at a 30% compound annual growth rate since 2020. The centers have jacked up electricity demand on a grid that is already at risk, with Trump supporting the de-regulation of the U.S. energy industry in part to handle the rising demand.
In addition to the data center investment announcement, Trump vowed to “expedite” environmental approvals for foreign entities who invest more than $1 billion in the U.S. economy, and threatened to place “very serious” tariffs on Mexico and Canada.
“We want to get along with everybody,” Trump said regarding the tariffs. “But it takes two to tango.”
He later took aim at wind turbines, declaring that “windmills are littered all over our country,” and that his administration would “have a policy that no windmills will be built.”
“We are the beginning of a great, golden age of business,” Trump remarked. “And I think we’re also in a golden age of common sense.”
