Nearly 200 MAHA activists urge Trump against coal-powered AI data centers

Aug 21, 2026

Nearly 200 supporters of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Make America Healthy Again movement sent a letter on August 21, 2026 criticizing President Donald Trump's push to use coal energy for artificial intelligence data centers, marking the first major MAHA mobilization over fossil fuels. The letter, signed by former Kennedy campaign staffers including Zen Honeycutt and Charles Eisenstein, urges the administration to consider renewable energy options like solar and geothermal power instead. The public split reflects growing frustration within MAHA over Trump's embrace of coal despite health concerns about greenhouse gas emissions and pollution, with some activists planning to vote on issues over party in the November 2026 midterm elections less than three months away. Trump has framed data centers as essential for beating China in the AI race and creating jobs, while the White House defends its rollback of Biden-era climate policies.

MAHA activist letter to Trump

▪Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has attempted to scale back childhood vaccine recommendations as health secretary.
▪Nearly 200 activists in Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Make America Healthy Again movement sent a letter to President Donald Trump on August 21, 2026 criticizing Trump's promotion of coal to fuel artificial intelligence data centers.
▪Zen Honeycutt, a former Kennedy campaign staffer and founder of Moms Across America, was a prominent MAHA figure behind the letter to Trump.
▪The letter to Trump, Kennedy, and various Cabinet officials was signed by at least two former staffers from Kennedy's 2024 presidential campaign.
▪President Donald Trump credits the Make America Healthy Again movement with helping Trump win back the White House two years ago.
▪Charles Eisenstein, a former speechwriter on Kennedy's 2024 presidential campaign, was a prominent MAHA figure behind the letter to Trump.
▪The November 2026 midterm elections are less than three months away from August 21, 2026.

Coal-powered AI data centers

▪President Donald Trump has been a vocal advocate for data centers, which power artificial intelligence and cloud computing, framing them as a necessary component of winning the AI race against China.
▪President Donald Trump stated that if Trump were a mayor or governor and had a chance to get an AI plant or data center, Trump would absolutely want it because the jobs are enormous and the money paid and taxes paid are just enormous.
▪President Donald Trump has enthusiastically embraced what Trump calls big, beautiful coal despite outcry from environmentalists about planet-warming greenhouse gases and toxic chemicals released by coal-fired power plants.
▪A 2025 executive order aimed to boost coal to power data centers over pollution concerns.

Trump environmental policy disputes

▪Greenhouse gas emissions can harm brain development in children and increase rates of heart attacks in adults.
▪The Trump administration has moved to reverse tighter Biden-era standards on greenhouse gas emissions.
▪Many in the MAHA movement say they have grown frustrated with the Trump administration over its embrace of pesticides such as glyphosate and its deregulatory environmental agenda.
▪Some MAHA activists have said they plan to vote on issues over party in the November 2026 midterm elections.
▪The MAHA activist letter marks the first major MAHA movement mobilization over fossil fuels and the latest in a series of rifts between the diverse group of activists and the Trump administration over environmental policy.

Data center community concerns

▪Voters across the political spectrum have criticized data centers for jacking up electricity bills, draining water supplies, and creating unhealthy amounts of air and noise pollution.
▪Zen Honeycutt said the data center push has been an overwhelmingly negative impact on communities and many in the MAHA movement are extremely disappointed about that.
▪Data centers have become a political flashpoint in the 2026 elections.

White House response

▪The agencies receiving the MAHA activist letter did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
▪White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said Trump was given a mandate to roll back the radical climate policies that are burning a hole through taxpayers' wallets.
▪White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers noted that greenhouse gas emissions dropped to a 30-year low during Trump's first term.

Perspective of Trump administration

▪White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said Trump was given a mandate to roll back the radical climate policies that are burning a hole through taxpayers' wallets.
▪President Donald Trump stated that if Trump were a mayor or governor and had a chance to get an AI plant or data center, Trump would absolutely want it because the jobs are enormous and the money paid and taxes paid are just enormous.