Since returning to the White Home, US President Donald Trump has touted company and foreign US investment bulletins as proof he’s ushering in “the golden age of America”.
On January 21, Trump stated that earlier than he’d completed the “first full enterprise day” of his second time period, the USA had “already secured practically $3 trillion of latest investments”.
On April 2, he stated, “It appears to be like like we’re going to have about $6 trillion of investments”. Six days later, Trump instructed Nationwide Republican Congressional Committee Dinner attendees that the funding complete was “now revised as much as about $7 (trillion)”.
Throughout an April 30 NewsNation city corridor, Trump speculated that “it may very well be greater than $8 trillion”.
On Might 4, Trump instructed Kristen Welker, the host of the NBC Information programme Meet the Press, “I believe we most likely have near $9 trillion of investments coming into this nation.”
On Might 6, Trump instructed reporters, “I believe the actual quantity may very well be $9 or $10 trillion.”
Lastly, on Might 8, Trump stated, “We’ve got now near $10 trillion — consider that, $10 trillion” in investments. “We’re speaking about basically two months.”
That’s far past the figures the White Home has launched publicly.
We tallied the White Home’s public lists of investments; they quantity to $2.1 trillion in company investments, or at most $5.1 trillion when together with promised investments from different international locations. Consultants cautioned that the promised company investments should not assured to materialise in full, or throughout Trump’s presidency, and a few of them would have occurred no matter who was president.
Trump isn’t the primary to overstate new investments on his watch. Outgoing US President Joe Biden stated in 2024 that his bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act had attracted $640bn in non-public investments; economists instructed PolitiFact that Biden’s numbers had been based mostly on what corporations had introduced, which isn’t the identical as {dollars} already spent.
Roman V Yampolskiy, a College of Louisville professor and a specialist in synthetic intelligence, which dominates the promised investments Trump cited, stated, “Traditionally, large-scale funding bulletins typically overpromise and underdeliver. There’s a performative factor to them, particularly in politically charged contexts. They perform as political theatre as a lot as financial dedication.”
White Home lists don’t match Trump’s phrases
Since Trump’s inauguration, the White Home has publicised funding bulletins from three international locations and roughly 60 corporations on its web site, together with in a “non-comprehensive operating checklist”. Most of the highest-dollar company bulletins had been in March and April.
Company bulletins within the White Home’s lists complete roughly $2.1 trillion price of US funding.
The White Home individually has cited commitments from the United Arab Emirates to take a position $1.4 trillion over the subsequent 10 years; from Japan to “enhance” its funding within the US to $1 trillion; and from Saudi Arabia to take a position $600bn within the US throughout Trump’s presidency. Mixed with the company bulletins, these deliver the overall to about $5.1 trillion, $4.9 trillion wanting Trump’s determine.
However the $5.1 trillion complete has caveats. For instance, the White Home stated “Japan introduced a $1 trillion funding within the US”, however the article it linked stated in 2023, Japan’s US funding was $783.3bn and Japan would “enhance” that to $1 trillion. That’s a rise of $216.7bn moderately than a brand new $1 trillion funding. That might put the overall worth of newly pledged US funding at about $4.3 trillion.
Trump’s second-term White Home tally of US investments
The White Home figures can’t simply be used for apples-to-apples comparisons. Among the investments are deliberate over Trump’s four-year time period, others over 5 years or a decade. In a single case – ADQ and Power Capital Companions’ deliberate $25bn funding — it isn’t restricted to US-based initiatives.
The White Home declined to element further investments. A spokesperson pointed to federal Bureau of Financial Evaluation knowledge that exhibits a 22 p.c improve in enterprise funding within the first quarter of 2025, calling it a historic improve.
Nonetheless, specialists cautioned this improve was formed by businesses stocking up on stock earlier than Trump’s tariffs take impact and stated the rise is unlikely to be sustained.
Most of the bulletins are aspirational, specialists say
Consultants instructed PolitiFact that every of the 5 largest investments on Trump’s checklist warrants some warning, as a result of they may not attain Trump’s cited greenback quantities or weren’t solely prompted by Trump’s insurance policies.
“Many of those bulletins, notably these within the AI and semiconductor sectors, seem like, a minimum of partly, aspirational in nature,” Yampolskiy stated. “They serve a signalling perform: to draw investor consideration, form coverage discourse, and safe beneficial regulatory or funding environments.”
The 5 largest firm investments collectively account for 82 p.c of the greenback worth on the White Home’s company checklist.
5 corporations accounting for almost all of latest funding guarantees are:
Stargate
The Stargate Challenge is a man-made intelligence collaboration amongst OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank, introduced throughout a January 21 White Home occasion. The White Home values the funding at $500bn.
The corporate’s official announcement says $100bn will probably be invested “instantly” and that it “intends to take a position” a complete of $500bn over the subsequent 4 years, a aim repeated by SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son on the White Home occasion.
“Whether or not that a lot will in the end get spent stays to be seen,” wrote John Higgins, chief economist at Capital Economics, a world consulting agency.
Enrique Dans, who research expertise and coverage at Madrid’s IE Enterprise College, stated the $500bn determine is “astronomical – roughly 2 p.c of US gross home product – and lacks clear documentation”.
On the White Home occasion, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stated, “We wouldn’t have the ability to do that with out you, Mr President.” However Altman had been discussing plans for a $100bn funding 10 months earlier than Trump received his second time period, The Washington Put up reported, together with an Abilene, Texas, knowledge centre that started development in summer season 2024.
“AI investments have been on a world trajectory pushed by technological maturity and aggressive strain, particularly from China,” Dans stated. “Any US president would have seen a surge.”
Nvidia
Nvidia Corp, one other AI firm, stated it plans to take a position as much as $500bn in US infrastructure over the subsequent 4 years. Beforehand, Nvidia manufactured most of its chips in Taiwan.
“It’s unlikely Nvidia would have moved any manufacturing to the US if it was not for strain from the Trump administration,” Gil Luria, an analyst with the monetary companies agency D.A. Davidson, instructed Reuters. Nonetheless, Luria added, “The half a trillion quantity is probably going hyperbole.”
Dans stated that though tax cuts from Trump’s first time period have benefited the corporate’s concentrate on US-based efforts, “the core progress possible would have occurred anyway”, whatever the president.
Apple
On February 24, days after Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook dinner, met with Trump, the buyer electronics large announced it plans to spend “greater than $500bn within the US over the subsequent 4 years.”
Analysts have expressed scepticism that this represents new funding. Dans referred to as the funding “merely extra of what [Apple] already does,” from “day-to-day actions with hundreds of suppliers in all 50 states to the operation of its home knowledge centres, in addition to its investments in Apple TV+ and different initiatives already manufactured within the nation.”
In a word to traders, David Vogt, an analyst with the Swiss-based financial institution UBS, wrote, “Name us a sceptic. … We imagine [the figure] lacks substance.”
IBM
IBM introduced April 28 plans to take a position $150bn within the US, together with greater than $30bn in analysis and improvement on US-based manufacturing of mainframe and quantum computer systems.
That is “not clearly Trump-related,” Dans stated. “IBM’s technique pivots have been underneath approach because the 2010s.”
Luria stated, “Whereas we imagine IBM will proceed to spend money on the rising space of quantum expertise, the bombastic determine is extra possible a gesture in direction of the US administration,” Reuters reported.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, which makes semiconductors for computing and electronics, has pledged to spend $100bn within the US. Analysts stated this quantity is essentially the most well-supported among the many investments that Trump cites. Though bringing semiconductor manufacturing again to the US started throughout Trump’s first time period, it was “tremendously accelerated by” Biden’s CHIPS and Science Act, which prompted years of funding earlier than Trump’s second time period, Dans stated.
Over the previous 5 years, the corporate has spent a minimum of $65bn on fabrication services close to Phoenix, Arizona, funded partly by $6.6bn from the CHIPS and Science Act.
Total, Dans stated, “Trump would possibly deserve some partial credit score for setting a extra aggressive tone on financial nationalism and provide chain reshoring, and for reducing the company tax reform, which did have an effect on repatriation and a few funding selections. However most of those traits — the AI growth, the semiconductor reshoring, the cloud computing infrastructure — are long-term structural shifts that predate Trump and can proceed no matter who’s in workplace.”
Our ruling
Trump stated, “We’ve got now near $10 trillion, consider that, $10 trillion” in investments. “We’re speaking about basically two months.”
The White Home has pointed to funding bulletins totalling $5.1 trillion, together with $2.1 trillion from corporations and the remaining from international locations.
That’s a minimum of $4.9 trillion wanting Trump’s determine, and these bulletins symbolize future spending, a few of which is deliberate over 4 years, 5 years or a decade.
Consultants stated most of the greenback quantities are aspirational and that the investments introduced would possibly by no means be totally reached. Additionally they stated a few of this funding would have occurred no matter who was president.
We fee the assertion false.