President Donald Trump highlighted plans to bring down prices Tuesday night in a record-long State of the Union address that included a pledge to protect ratepayers from data center-driven power costs.
The speech, which clocked in at 107 minutes, was light on policy and contained no proposals that would directly affect the municipal bond market. Trump touted the economy, which is expected to be a major issue heading into the fall midterm elections, saying that the country has seen "a turnaround for the ages" since he took office for the second time a year ago.
With 'affordability' the current political buzzword, Trump outlined a number of proposals aimed at bringing down prices. That included a plan to require technology companies building artificial intelligence data centers to build their own power plants to
The Trump administration has prioritized building out artificial intelligence infrastructure as part of "America's AI Action Plan" and the Department of Energy has launched the "Speed to Power" initiative to accelerate large-scale grid infrastructure project development for both transmission and generation.
"We have an old grid. It could never handle the kind of numbers, the amount of electricity that's needed. So I'm telling [companies], they can build their own plant and produce their own electricity," Trump said.
The "ratepayer protection pledge" is a "unique strategy that's never been used before," he said. "It will ensure the companies' ability to get electricity, while at the same time lowering prices of electricity for you, and could be very substantial for all of you, cities and towns; you're going to see some good things happen over the next number of years."
In an effort to bring down housing costs, Trump asked Congress to codify his executive order banning corporations from buying single-family homes. "We want homes for people, not for corporations," he said.
He also unveiled a plan to offer Americans who don't have employer-based retirement accounts "access to the same type of retirement plan" offered to federal workers. "Since I took office, the typical 401(k) balance is up by at least $30,000," the president said, saying that nearly half of working Americans don't have access to employer-based retirement accounts.
"Next year my administration will give these often-forgotten American workers — great people, the people that built our country — access to the same type of retirement plan offered to every federal worker. We will match your contribution with up to $1,000 each year as we ensure that all Americans can profit from a rising stock market."
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in later interviews that more details would be forthcoming and that the proposal could be enacted through reconciliation.
Days after the U.S. Supreme Court
Trump also called on Congress to pass legislation that would "end deadly sanctuary cities." He said Vice President JD Vance would be in charge of a "war on fraud," and called out several states, including Minnesota, Massachusetts, California and Maine, as likely to face review.
