President Donald Trump will formally call on tech companies to pay more for electricity for new data centers, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
Trump is expected to make the call during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, announcing new “rate payer protection pledges” the administration has negotiated with top tech companies. The pledges require tech companies to pay increased electricity costs in communities where new AI data centers are being built, officials told the Journal.
Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress is expected to put the economy front and center, pairing working-family guests with a data-driven case on affordability in addition to various economic policy announcements.
Trump is slated to begin his speech at 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time Tuesday evening from the U.S. Capitol. The Journal reported that Trump made edits to the speech over the weekend.
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“President Trump’s State of the Union Address will celebrate 250 glorious years of our nation’s independence and excellence, highlighting incredible stories of American heroes throughout the speech,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital ahead of the speech.
Touting Trump Accounts, tax cuts in the “big, beautiful bill,” lowering drug prices and working to ease the ability of American families to purchase a home are among Trump’s top orders of business, Fox News Digital learned. The president also is expected to make undisclosed economic policy announcements during the speech.
The economy is a top concern for voters as they prepare to vote for a new Congress in November, which follows Democrats’ 2025 winning campaign strategy around “affordability.”
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A White House official told Fox News Digital that Trump invited guests tied to the various economic initiatives in his speech, including Catherine Rayner of Norfolk, Virginia. Rayner and her husband have been navigating fertility complications and in vitro fertilization for five years, with Rayner becoming the first patient of the portal earlier in February when it rolled out.
The couple’s spending on fertility medications dropped from roughly $4,000 to $500 under the program, Fox News Digital learned.
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The president is also expected to invoke his well-known populist tone in the speech, including to speak out against “special interest groups” that have been entrenched in power despite “ripping off” and leaving working Americans behind, a White House official told Fox News Digital.
Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report.
