PALM BEACH, FL — next president donald trump Appointed CEO of SoftBank Group Masayoshi Son Japanese companies announce plans to invest $100 billion in U.S. projects over the next four years.
President Trump on Monday announced an investment plan expected to focus on artificial intelligence at his Mar-a-Lago resort, along with Son and Howard Lutnick, the head of investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and Trump's pick for secretary of commerce. announced.
“He's doing this because he feels very optimistic about our country,” Trump said. The president-elect said that since he was elected, he has expressed interest in people “coming in with huge amounts of money.”
President Trump said SoftBank's investment was a “monumental demonstration of confidence in America's future.”
“I would like to congratulate President Trump on his great victory,” Son said, adding, “We will lead the world to peace again.”
“I’m really excited to be able to make this happen,” he said.
The tech tycoon said he was doubling down after the president-elect pointed out that $100 billion was twice the investment pledge Son made in 2016, on the eve of the first Trump administration. President Trump appeared to be joking, asking on the microphone if he would double his investment again. “Would you like to make it $200 billion?”
President Trump has announced big deals with foreign companies in the past, but some companies ultimately failed to make the investments they promised.
Foxconn Technology Group, the Taiwanese company best known for making Apple iPhones, announced plans in 2017 to build a $10 billion complex that would employ 13,000 people in a small town just south of Milwaukee, drawing praise from President Trump. obtained. But Foxconn's investment was cut to a fraction of that amount after the coronavirus pandemic.
But Monday's announcement is a victory for President Trump, who has spent the weeks since the election promoting his policies, negotiating with foreign leaders and striking deals.
President Trump has already threatened to impose high tariffs on Mexico and Canada, prompting the Canadian prime minister's visit. In a post on his site Truth Social last week, President Trump said anyone investing $1 billion in the United States “will receive full expedited approvals and clearances.” including, but not limited to, all environmental approvals. ” and a phone call with the president of Mexico.
SoftBank was founded in 1981 by Son, a brash entrepreneur who studied at the University of California, Berkeley. SoftBank invests in various companies grouped together through its capital venture fund.
The company's investment portfolio includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba and artificial intelligence companies. Nvidia. Earlier this year, it partnered with Saudi Arabia to build a robot factory in Riyadh.
After Trump was first elected to the White House in 2016, he met with Son before taking office. Son then announced plans to create 50,000 jobs and invest $50 billion in U.S. startups, but Trump celebrated on social media, saying none of that would happen unless he won the election. He said there was no.
Not all investments have been successful. The most notorious one is Softbank's huge investment. Shared office company WeWork It filed for bankruptcy protection last year. It also invested in Zume, a robot pizza manufacturing company that went bankrupt.
Monday's announcement came days after President Trump vowed to expedite federal permitting for more than $1 billion worth of energy projects and other construction.
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Associated Press writers Jill Colvin in New York and Paul Wiseman and Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this article.
