Trump made the remarks Saturday at a rally in Houston County and in an interview backstage in Perry. He said local governments should be able to approve projects, aligning him with Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson, who has called for city and county leaders to have veto power over proposed sites.

“Tell them to pay you $10,000, $15,000, $20,000 for everybody that lives in the community,” Trump told the rally crowd. He argued that technology companies can afford to compensate residents and communities for hosting the facilities.

The rapid growth of data centers, which require large amounts of electricity, has become contentious in Georgia. Residents have raised concerns about higher electric bills and pressure on regional power grids. Trump’s remarks did not outline a formal policy or explain how individual payments would be required or distributed.

In the interview, Trump said he had seen opposition to a data center ease after a company offered community benefits. He described a case in Louisiana in which he said Meta agreed to pay residents $10,000 each; that account was his claim. He also cited competition with China in building infrastructure for artificial intelligence as a reason the United States should continue developing data centers.

Jackson appeared onstage with Trump, who asked whether the candidate agreed with his position. Jackson has previously said local officials should be able to block projects, while Trump emphasized payments as a way to address community opposition.

The Perry rally was part of Trump’s effort to energize rural Georgia voters as early voting continued. He also discussed other campaign issues, but offered no specific legislative plan for data center siting or compensation.