President Trump reacted to the volatile Thursday in markets with a series of Truth Social posts overnight, doubling down on his support of data centers and trying to blame Democrats for the sell-off.
A little after 7 a.m. ET Friday, he renewed his support for data centers, writing he “will work with the many States in the U.S. that want to become RICH by having them” and calling leaders who might be opposed “foolish.”
The comments appeared largely directed at Texas, where voters this week elected a new Democratic governor who has promised to halt new data center construction in a race that surfaced deep voter unease over AI and its effects.
Texas Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa pledged on Thursday to protect Texas from data centers via new laws and, in the meantime, would hold off on approving new data center projects “until we have those protections.”
Hinojosa defeated outgoing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, one of the few losing figures Trump has lashed out at this week.
Trump hasn’t criticized most losing Republicans but reacted immediately to Abbott’s loss, saying the three-term Republican governor would have won if he hadn’t become a “RINO” (Republican in name only).
“It wasn’t pretty!” Trump boasted.
The wave of anti-data center sentiment stretched across the country, elevating Democrats to governorships in places like Ohio and Georgia who could bring a newly critical eye to the sector in the middle of a rapid build-out.
The concerns about a slowdown in data center construction and AI spending led to a steep sell-off in tech stocks on Thursday — ending the worst post-midterm day since 1896.
Trump tried to pin blame for those losses on Democrats.
“The Stock Market crashed today because the Dumocrats had a big Tuesday — So sad to see, you only have yourselves to blame!” Trump posted Thursday night on Truth Social.
A day earlier, he was touting Wednesday’s market gains, which came after the Democrats’ sweeping win became clear.
Ben Werschkul is a Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.
Source: finance.yahoo.com
