Trump Official Who Wants Data Centers on Public Lands Has Tens of Millions Invested in AI Industry

Photo: President Trump in the Oval office. Standing behind him (from left to right) are: Secretary of Energy Chris Wright; Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum; EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin – June 4, 2026. Official White House photo by Molly Riley. Attribution: “P20260604MR-0203” by The White House via Flickr. United States Government Work. Article by Mark Olalde. ProPublica – November 6, 2026. Database developed by ProPublica: Trump Team Financials.

The Trump administration has likened the need to build out the nation’s artificial intelligence infrastructure to the Manhattan Project, the World War II effort that produced the world’s first atomic bomb. The White House’s point person on the effort, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, has spoken of the “AI arms race” with China as an existential issue for the nation. “AI is manufacturing intelligence, and, if we don’t manufacture more intelligence than our adversaries, it affects every job, every company and every industry,” he said during his Senate confirmation hearing in January 2025. But advancing the administration’s AI objectives also could benefit Burgum’s own finances. […]

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