Trump Administration Considers Data Centers on Public Lands
Proposals for at least 12 facilities would cover over 17,600 acres across six western states.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Trump Administration Considers Data Centers on Public Lands
Photograph: Truthout (embedded from source)
What this story says
- The Trump administration is considering proposals for at least 12 data centers and infrastructure projects on federal public lands.
- These proposals cover at least 17,600 acres across six states: Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming.
- The Bureau of Land Management is reviewing these early-stage proposals, which are not yet public.
- Local officials and advocates in at least five of the affected states were unaware of the plans.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 6 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. Coverage measured .
Trust
50/100
Craft
58/100
Hype
41/100
6 sources · methodology
Thin on the right so far
None of the 6 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
The Trump administration is contemplating the construction of at least 12 data centers and associated infrastructure on federal public lands. These proposals, currently under review by the Bureau of Land Management, would encompass a minimum of 17,600 acres spread across Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming. The projects are in their initial phases and have not yet been opened for public comment.
Reporting from The Washington Sun indicates that local officials and advocates in at least five of these states were not informed about the proposed developments. The Bureau of Land Management is examining these proposals, which are described as being in the early stages.
Disagreement on Project Scale
The Washington Sun reported that the Trump administration is considering proposals for at least 12 data centers and related infrastructure projects. Truthout and The New Republic also reported on plans for 12 data centers. Joe.My.God. and Political Wire, citing The Washington Sun, stated the administration is considering proposals for at least 12 data centers and data center-related infrastructure projects. Raw Story reported on 'at least 12 data center and infrastructure proposals'.
What the coverage left out
None of the left-rated or centre-rated reports printed below mention the specific companies behind the proposals, such as Valar Atomics, Copia Power, Rhea Data, and Arevia Power, which were named in The New Republic's full report. The full reports from Truthout and The New Republic also included details on the environmental impacts of data centers and broader criticisms of their development, which were not present in the digests.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 1 time, most recently on 18 Sept 2026, 20:00, and will add the sides that appear.
How other outlets pictured it
Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.
Hoses, pumps, and barriers line a creek.
The New Republic — embedded from source
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
5 rated outlets
- Left-rated reports from Truthout, The New Republic, Joe.My.God., Raw Story, and Washington Sun focused on the scale of the proposed data centers and the lack of public awareness. Truthout highlighted that there are currently zero data centers on public lands and criticised the administration's actions as an attempt to 'roll back protections for and destroy federal lands'. The New Republic noted that the majority of Americans are against such developments and quoted Aaron Weiss of the Center for Western Priorities saying the administration needs to 'stop cutting the public out of public land management'. Raw Story's headline stated locals were 'blindsided' by the 'secretive plans' and called it an 'unholy alliance'. Washington Sun's digest mentioned the proposals cover more land than previously known. Joe.My.God. used the headline 'WH Mulls Allowing 12 Data Centers On Public Lands'.
Centre
1 rated outlet
- The centre-rated report from Political Wire led with the number of proposed data centers and the acreage involved, citing The Washington Sun. Its digest stated the Trump administration is considering proposals for at least 12 data centers and related infrastructure projects on federal public lands, covering at least 17,600 acres across six states.
Right
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated right has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Trump Administration Considers Data Centers on Public Lands?
- Of the 6 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 83% are rated left, 17% are rated centre, 0% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Trump Administration Considers Data Centers on Public Lands left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 6 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Trump Administration Considers Data Centers on Public Lands biased?
- Trump Administration Considers Data Centers on Public Lands is one event reported by 6 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Trump Administration Considers Data Centers on Public Lands?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Trump Administration Considers Data Centers on Public Lands?
- 6 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- How many data centers is the Trump administration considering for public lands?
- The Trump administration is considering proposals for at least 12 data centers and related infrastructure projects. These proposals are currently under review by the Bureau of Land Management and are in the early stages.
- How much land would these proposed data centers cover?
- The proposals for the data centers and related infrastructure would cover at least 17,600 acres of federal public lands. This land is spread across six western states.
- Were local officials aware of these proposals?
- According to reports, local officials and advocates in at least five of the six affected states were unaware of the proposed data center projects. The Bureau of Land Management is reviewing these early-stage proposals, which have not yet been made public.
Read it at the source
6 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
5- WH Mulls Allowing 12 Data Centers On Public Lands (opens Joe.My.God. in a new tab)
Joe.My.God. — is Joe.My.God. biased? Our profile of this outlet
- There Are 0 Data Centers on Public Lands. Trump Is Considering Building 12. (opens Truthout in a new tab)
- Trump Expands His Plan to Have Data Centers Take Over Public Lands (opens The New Republic in a new tab)
The New Republic — is The New Republic biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Locals blindsided by Trump's secretive plans for public lands: 'Unholy alliance' (opens Raw Story in a new tab)
- Trump Is Considering More Data Centers on Public Lands Than Previously Known (opens washingtonsun.com in a new tab)
washingtonsun.com — is washingtonsun.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
Centre
1Right
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Not rated
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
How did this read?
About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.
