President Donald Trump has touted new capital investments in the U.S. as proof that his bold economic reforms are restoring American industry, even as critics continue to stoke fears about the impact of his tariffs.
At a White House event on Wednesday, Trump welcomed the CEOs of major companies as he boasted of $8 trillion in new investments from companies in the pharmaceutical, energy, and technology sectors.
“We have a total of close to $8 trillion all told,” he continued. “And there’s never been anything like that in this country; we’ve never had anything close. I would say, if you looked at the last administration, probably for four years, they did maybe less than $1 [trillion], and we’ve done almost $8 [trillion].”
The White House launched a website that lists 49 different commitments from companies like Apple, NVIDIA, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Hyundai, and more.
Trump credited the new influx of capital to business-friendly policies like low taxes and deregulation, as well as tariffs giving companies an incentive to build in America. "There's never been, I don't think there's ever been anything like this anywhere in the world. Together we're going to bring back the most beautiful words I always say, made in the USA. The most beautiful words, we're going to have made in the USA like we haven't had before in a long time," he said.
Some of the biggest investments are from companies at the center of the AI revolution. Apple, NVIDIA, and Stargate, which is a joint venture between OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle, have each pledged $500 billion.
The commitment from Apple is notable given the company's notorious reliance on Chinese imports. China has been hit harder than any other nation by Trump's tariff war, with import duties currently at 145%.
"Tim Cook from Apple is pledging, not only pledging, is committed to $500 billion, they're going to build plants all over the country, seven or eight different states," Trump said.
The CEO of chipmaker NVIDIA, Jensen Wong, praised Trump for fostering a renaissance in domestic production. Trump has pointed to America's reliance on foreign semiconductor chips as a national security concern.
"We’re going to build NVIDIA’s technology, the next generation of that, all here in the United States,” Wong said.
“Without the president’s leadership, his policies, his support, and, very importantly, his strong encouragement… frankly, manufacturing in the United States wouldn’t have accelerated to this pace,” he added.
Indeed, NVIDIA recently announced it would start building AI super computers in America for the first time.
Despite this good news, Trump's critics have painted a much darker picture, predicting an economic slowdown or recession on the heels of a contraction in gross domestic product (GDP.) The president dismissed a .3% contraction in the first quarter of the year as a lingering effect of former President Joe Biden's policies.
"This is Biden's economy because we took over on January 20th," Trump said. "I think you have to give us a little bit of time to get moving."
