National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Friday he expects data center growth to continue as expected, despite the election wave that saw voters overwhelmingly in favor of limiting tech infrastructure construction.
Hassett, on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street,” acknowledged dozens of measures passed in state midterms aimed at restricting data centers, a crucial part of President Donald Trump’s effort to win the global race for artificial intelligence.
In at least 46 of the roughly 50 such initiatives on the ballot in 2026, majorities have voted to restrict facility development, according to Ballotpedia’s tally.
“We respect localities that decide what they want to do,” Hassett said. “But America is a big country and, for now, the data centers planned for the next few years are not affected by these electoral initiatives.”
“And after that, you know, there’s a lot of room in the United States for data center growth to continue, as was predicted before the election,” he said.
Hassett said he expects data centers to continue to expand in states with more welcoming governors, and he suggested that even hostile states will eventually reconcile.
“That’s exactly what’s going to happen,” he said. “What will happen is that the benefits of data centers will be so obvious that people will decide to change their minds about how they regulate them.”
Hassett also blamed Thursday’s tech market plunge on “uncertainty about what the political change is going to mean for data centers in the future.”
“We now have a…new majority that is going to maybe go in there and deal with it, and I think the markets are worried about that,” he said.
“But I think the economic strength that we see everywhere else is so strong, and of course, at the end of the day, you could take something that’s growing as fast as data centers and make it grow a little slower, and you’d still have a successful economy.”
“And so, I think we’re still very, very optimistic about what’s going to happen in the future,” he said.
The CNBC poll of voters found that 56% of midterm voters identified data centers as a crucial or major issue — and among those who considered it crucial, 62% favored the generic Democratic candidate.
Trump has strongly embraced AI and data centers and even attempted to reverse their apparent unpopularity by renaming the technology “super intelligence,” or SI.
In an article published Friday by Truth Social, Trump made clear that despite midterm losses, his support for the fledgling industry has not wavered.
“As President, I am 100% in favor of Super Intelligence (SI) and will work with the many American states that want to become RICH with this information,” Trump wrote. “They are GOLD, and only foolish leaders will say ‘NO’ to the riches they bring!”
Gn bussni
