President Donald Trump complained at an EPA headquarters event Thursday that staff had given him “the lowest seat,” repeating a grievance that drew international attention at the G7 summit last month.
The event was an expansion of Trump’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge — a voluntary initiative first announced during his State of the Union address and formalized with tech companies in March.
The pledge requires AI companies and data center developers to cover their own energy and infrastructure costs rather than passing them to consumers.
Trump made his feelings known early.
“They gave me the lowest seat I’ve ever sat in,” Trump said at the event. “They do that on purpose.”
“I don’t think it was Chris that did it,” Trump said, walking it back slightly and nodding to Energy Secretary Chris Wright. “Chris wouldn’t do that.”
Trump’s annoyance with having the shortest seat surfaced last month at the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains.
The president was caught on a live microphone struggling with a chair he said was lower than everyone else’s at the table, according to International Business Times. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney resolved the standoff by offering Trump his own seat, which Trump accepted.
The Thursday event at the White House marked a significant expansion of the data center pledge.
It now spans more than 200 organizations — including 23 governors, more than 150 utilities and cooperatives, and 28 data center developers — covering roughly 80 percent of the power delivered to American homes and businesses, according to the White House.
The expansion comes as public opposition to data centers has surged ahead of the midterm elections. The Associated Press reported the pledge’s first round in March did little to comfort voters already grappling with affordability concerns.
“Poll after poll shows Americans turning against data centers,” analyst Paul Waldman argued. Trump “seems to have decided to become the face of an issue on which he’s on the wrong side of two-thirds of the public.”
Back at the podium Thursday, Trump was candid about the limits of his own grasp on the policy.
“Nobody’s ever explained to me why it’s so much electricity, why you need so much,” Trump said at the event. “Nor did I care that much, to be honest with you.”
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