China fueling anti-data center sentiment across US, Trump admin and ‘Shark Tank’ star Kevin O’Leary claim

Nypost · 🇺🇸 public United States · May 29, 2026 · 713 words · By Alex Oliveira

Corporate vs. Local Interests Foreign Influence/Interference AI Infrastructure Development

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What to know about Corporate vs. Local Interests

China fueling anti-data center sentiment across US, Trump admin and ‘Shark Tank’ star Kevin O’Leary claim See more of our coverage in your search results.

Claims checked 11

Techniques found 3

Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center75%

Right25%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

China fueling anti-data center sentiment across US, Trump admin and ‘Shark Tank’ star Kevin O’Leary claim See more of our coverage in your search results.

Why it matters

Add The New York Post on GoogleThe Trump administration and “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary claimed anti-data center sentiments across the US are being fueled by a Chinese propaganda campaign.

Common ground

O’Leary — whose 40,000-acre data center plans outside Salt Lake City have been met with protests — claimed in a Monday video that “nefarious accounts out of the country” tied to China were spreading misinformation about his project as part of a coordinated…

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Name Calling / Labeling, Scapegoating: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this Corporate vs. Local Interests story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Interior Secretary Doug Burgum agreed during a Tuesday appearance on Fox Business?
How does this story connect Corporate vs. Local Interests with Foreign Influence/Interference over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/05/29/us-news/china-fueling-anti-data-center-sentiment-a…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 3 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 80% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

warning

Name Calling / Labeling 60% confidence

Attaching a negative label to a person or group to reject them without evidence.

Why it matters: Recognizing name calling / labeling helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

warning

Scapegoating 70% confidence

Blaming a person or group for problems they did not cause.

Why it matters: Recognizing scapegoating helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 11 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 4

help Insufficient Evidence 2

verified Verified By Reference 2

info Single Source 2

schedule Pending 1

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Claim 1: “Interior Secretary Doug Burgum agreed during a Tuesday appearance on Fox Business.”

CORROBORATED

Web search results explicitly state that Interior Secretary Doug Burgum appeared on Fox Business and claimed that foreign-directed propaganda is targeting US data center construction.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Douglas James Burgum ( BURG-əm; born August 1, 1956) is an American businessman and politician who has served as the 55th United States secretary of the interior since 2025 under President Donald Trum…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Burgum

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Doug Burgum 2024 presidential campaign began on June 7, 2023, at an event in Fargo, North Dakota. Burgum, the governor of North Dakota since 2016, was seeking the Republican Party nomination in it…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Burgum_2024_presidential_…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Donald Trump assumed office as the 47th president of the United States on January 20, 2025. The president has the legal authority to nominate members of his cabinet to the United States Senate for con…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_cabinet_of_Donald_Trump

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 2: “About 70% of Americans oppose the developments, according to a 2026 Gallup survey”

CORROBORATED

Three independent web sources confirm a May 2026 Gallup survey showing that 70% of Americans oppose the construction of AI data centers in their local communities.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — A May 2026 Gallup survey found that 70% of Americans oppose the construction of an AI data center in their local community, including 48% who strongly oppose such development.
https://www.datacenterknowledge.com/build-design/ai-infrastr…

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web search NEUTRAL — - 70% opposition with nearly half strongly opposed creates a lopsided political dynamic favoring restriction. - 14 states have active legislative or regulatory constraints on new data center siting as…
https://aiweekly.co/alerts/gallup-70-of-americans-oppose-loc…

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web search NEUTRAL — A new Gallup survey has revealed a dramatic surge in American opposition to AI data centers, with 70% of respondents now against having these facilities built near their homes. This marks a sharp incr…
https://biggo.com/news/202605160159_70-percent-americans-opp…

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Claim 3: “the project would be developed in stages over 10 years to ensure local safety concerns were met.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was provided for this claim in the search results.

verified

Claim 4: “O’Leary — whose 40,000-acre data center plans outside Salt Lake City have been met with protests”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

While evidence confirms O'Leary's general claims about data centers, there is no specific evidence in the provided results confirming a '40,000-acre' project outside Salt Lake City or protests specifically tied to that acreage.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Cheerios is a brand of cereal manufactured by General Mills in the United States and Canada, consisting of pulverized oats in the shape of a solid torus. In Europe, Cheerios is marketed by Cereal Part…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheerios

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Terrence Thomas Kevin O'Leary (born July 9, 1954), self stylized as Mr. Wonderful, is a Canadian businessman and television personality. From 2004 to 2014, he appeared on various Canadian television s…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_O'Leary

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (IATA: PHX, ICAO: KPHX, FAA LID: PHX) is a civil-military public international airport 3 miles (2.6 nmi; 4.8 km) east of downtown Phoenix, in Maricopa County, …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Sky_Harbor_Internation…

+ 3 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 5: “O’Leary backed his claims with “90 pages of evidence” which he said indicated “millions, hundreds of millions of dollars” worth of funds were being funneled from entities around the world to fuel targeted misinformation campaigns against his data center.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The provided evidence confirms O'Leary's claims about Chinese propaganda, but does not mention the specific '90 pages of evidence' or the 'hundreds of millions of dollars' figure.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 1989–90 season was Arsenal Football Club's 64th consecutive season in the top flight of English football. After winning the title the previous season, Arsenal finished fourth in 1989–90, behind ch…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989–90_Arsenal_F.C._season

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — David Anthony O'Leary (born 2 May 1958) is a football manager and former player. The majority of his 20-year playing career was spent as a central defender at Arsenal, where his tally of 722 appearanc…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_O'Leary

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Mary Elizabeth Truss (born 26 July 1975) is a British politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022. On her fiftieth day …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liz_Truss

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 6: ““The opposition to US data center construction is not a spontaneous grassroots movement,” a recent American Energy Institute report read. “It is a coordinated campaign financed in substantial part by foreign donors, operating through a network of national advocacy organizations and their local chapters.””

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results reference an April 2026 report by the American Energy Institute stating that opposition to US data centers is a coordinated campaign financed by foreign donors.

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web search NEUTRAL — A network of activist groups receiving significant foreign funding is waging a coordinated campaign against the development of critical AI infrastructure ...
https://americanenergyinstitute.com/docs/aei_data-center_rep…

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web search NEUTRAL — May 18, 2026 ... The American Energy Institute's April 2026 report focused specifically on foreign influence in the anti-data-center fight: 12 US organizations ...
https://www.btcpolicy.org/articles/foreign-influence-in-the-…

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web search NEUTRAL — 5 days ago ... Tech millionaires claim China is behind a wave of local opposition to U.S. data centers, while providing little direct evidence.
https://www.npr.org/2026/06/10/nx-s1-5844328/us-china-data-c…

help

Claim 7: “O’Leary has insisted his project — called the Stratos Project, in Box Elder, Utah — is taking every precaution to roll out responsibly”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was provided for this claim in the search results.

schedule

Claim 8: “only about 9,000 acres of the project’s 40,000-acre plot would be used after that time, and that upwards of 6,000 jobs would be brought to the area”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 9: “at least three reports from tech and Trump-aligned thinktanks and non-profits, including the Bitcoin Policy Institute, Power the Future and the American Energy Institute, drew similar conclusions about Chinese meddling in US data-center sentiments”

SINGLE SOURCE

While the American Energy Institute is mentioned in multiple sources as having a report on this topic, there is no evidence in the provided results confirming reports from the 'Bitcoin Policy Institute' or 'Power the Future'.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Bitcoin (abbreviation: BTC; sign: ₿) is the first decentralized cryptocurrency. Based on a free-market ideology, bitcoin was invented in 2008 when an unknown person published a white paper under the p…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Cryptocurrency is a type of digital asset that uses distributed ledger, or blockchain, technology to enable a secure transaction. Individual coin ownership records are stored in a digital ledger or bl…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptocurrency

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Bitcoin was designed by its pseudonymous inventor, Satoshi Nakamoto, to work as a currency, but its status as a currency is disputed. Economists define money as a store of value, a medium of exchange …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economics_of_bitcoin

+ 3 more evidence sources

info

Claim 10: “at least two of the groups named in those reports told the Washington Post they had nothing to do with a foreign influence campaign against data centers”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence for this claim consists only of dictionary definitions for the word 'least' and does not contain any information regarding organizations denying involvement to the Washington Post.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — 2 days ago · The meaning of LEAST is lowest in importance or position. How to use least in a sentence.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/least

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web search NEUTRAL — We use the quantifier least to talk about quantities, amounts and degree. (The) least is the superlative form of little. …
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/least

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — That's the least of my worries/problems. [=I have more important worries/problems to deal with] We had many things to consider, not the least of which was the safety of our children. [=the safety of o…
https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/least

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Claim 11: “The Trump administration and “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary claimed anti-data center sentiments across the US are being fueled by a Chinese propaganda campaign.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent web search results from May 2026 confirm that both the Trump administration (via Interior Secretary Doug Burgum) and Kevin O'Leary have claimed that Chinese propaganda is fueling anti-data center sentiment in the US.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — TikTok U.S. Data Security Joint Venture LLC is an American technology company established in January 2026 to oversee TikTok's operations in the United States. It was formed to address U.S. national se…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TikTok_USDS

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, 607 U.S. ___ (2026), is a Supreme Court of the United States case in which the Court held that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), an economic s…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_Resources,_Inc._v._Tr…

+ 3 more evidence sources

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.