President Donald Trump’s National Artificial Intelligence Legislative Framework, unveiled March 20, puts America on offense in the global AI race — but foreign-funded activists are mounting a coordinated campaign to choke off the data center buildout that America needs to win.
Data centers are the backbone of cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and the digital economy. They’re under coordinated attack from groups bankrolled by overseas donors who see American technological dominance as their chief threat, and the fight over whether we build them is really a fight over whether the United States intends to lead or surrender.
Trump has made the answer unmistakable. He has put winning the AI race at the center of American economic competitiveness and national security — our edge over China depends on it — and he has already moved to make sure the buildout of AI infrastructure does not become a hidden tax on working families struggling to make ends meet. Leadership means building fast, protecting working families and staying ahead of China.
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The framework makes clear that winning AI means building the power-hungry infrastructure to support it. It ties American economic competitiveness and national security to rapid deployment of these facilities. And in March, Trump’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge, signed by CEOs of the nation’s largest companies, ensures families won’t foot the bill for AI growth. When power demand surges, utilities and tech firms commit to shielding ratepayers first.
That is exactly why the opposition campaign deserves such intense scrutiny. It is a coordinated national effort to slow the electricity and industrial expansion needed for AI, manufacturing, and growth — not just a handful of neighbors objecting down the road. This goes far beyond spontaneous local objections.
But don’t take my word for it. The evidence of a coordinated campaign is overwhelming.
In December 2025, more than 230 organizations sent a letter to Congress demanding a moratorium on new data centers, branding the AI boom one of the biggest environmental threats of our generation. Signers included Indivisible ($7.4M foreign funds), 350.org ($9.5M), Oil Change International ($5.9M), GAIA ($6.4M), and Sierra Club ($2.1M).
Just follow the money. The Americans for Public Trust report from last October documents nearly $2 billion flowing from five foreign charities into U.S. activism, litigation, and policy fights. Quadrature Climate Foundation sent over $530 million to American groups. KR Foundation from Denmark gave $36 million. Oak Foundation more than $750 million. Laudes Foundation nearly $20 million. Children’s Investment Fund Foundation over $553 million. These funds grease a machine that churns out protests, lawsuits, and lobbying — from national headquarters down to local Sierra Club chapters coaching residents in Louisiana, Kansas, New Jersey, Delaware, Michigan, and Minnesota to block zoning changes.
Extinction Rebellion, which favors street disruption over traditional activism, signed that moratorium letter too. Indivisible chapters escalate the chaos with mass rallies. The money trail runs straight from foreign donors through to U.S. nonprofits to “grassroots” obstruction.
The real-world consequences of that obstruction are now impossible to ignore. In Indianapolis, both Indivisible and the Sierra Club — organizations that have received foreign funding—mobilized multiple public meetings and protests to drive opposition against a proposed data center. Indivisible’s Indiana chapter went further, singling out council member Ron Gibson by name in an X post. Gibson was subsequently the target of violence. When foreign-funded groups put elected officials’ names in the crosshairs of an online pressure campaign, working Americans end up bearing the cost.
Now the radicals in Congress are amplifying it. Just last month, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) introduced an AI data center moratorium bill. Even Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA) and John Fetterman (D-PA) of their own party called it nonsense. When the radical Left wants to freeze AI infrastructure and foreign-backed nonprofits are helping bankroll the broader anti-development ecosystem, it is fair to ask whether the real goal is protection or paralysis. It’s working families who pay the price.
When data centers stall, the ripple effects hit fast. Farmers lose access to the AI tools that cut fertilizer and fuel costs. Trucking companies run less efficient routes, driving up freight prices. Small manufacturers and local businesses pay more for the cloud services that keep them competitive. Those costs don’t disappear, they show up at the grocery store, in shipping fees, and in monthly energy costs.
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America cannot surrender its AI edge to this playbook. Data centers power the systems that keep our economy moving, from farms and freight to factories and finance. If foreign-funded activists can choke off that backbone, China won’t hesitate to build it instead. That’s not just falling behind, it’s handing over the advantage without a fight.
Policymakers see the stakes. Trump’s framework demands federal consistency to cut red tape and speed deployment. His pledge locks in consumer safeguards. Leaders on the Right should call this opposition what it is: a foreign-influenced campaign dressed as local concern. The question hangs plain. Who benefits when overseas cash slows America’s technological surge?
The Honorable Jason Isaac is founder and CEO of the American Energy Institute. He previously served four terms in the Texas House of Representatives.