Japanese firm SoftBank plans to invest $100 billion in U.S., Trump announces
Japanese tech conglomerate SoftBank plans to invest $100 billion in the U.S. and create 100,000 jobs in artificial intelligence and technology, President-elect Donald Trump announced Monday at Mar-a-Lago alongside SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son.
"Today, I am thrilled to announce that SoftBank will be investing $100 billion America, creating 100,000 American jobs at a minimum," Trump said, adding that Son was announcing the investment "because he feels very optimistic about our country since the election."
The investment "will help insure that artificial intelligence, emerging technologies and other industries of tomorrow are built, created right here in the U.S.A.," Trump said.
"I"m very, very excited," Son said. "I would really like to celebrate the great victory of President Trump. And my confidence level to the economy of the United States has tremendously increased with his victory."
During their announcement, Trump asked Son to double the investment.
"I'm going to ask him right now, will you make it $200 billion, believe it or not, he can actually afford to do that," Trump said. Son responded, "With your leadership and my parternship and your support, I will try to make it happen."
After Trump's 2016 victory, the two announced his firm would invest $50 billion in the U.S. Tokyo-based SoftBank is an investment company that focuses on financial, tech and energy companies.
Trump has touted other investments from major foreign companies that didn't pan out during his presidency. In 2017, he announced that Taiwanese electronics maker Foxconn — known for manufacturing Apple's iPhone and iPod devices — would build a $10 billion campus in Wisconsin in exchange for billions in tax incentives. The venture was forecast to employ more than 10,000 people, bringing high-paying tech jobs to the Midwestern state.
Trump heralded the major tech partnership as "transformational" and the "eighth wonder of the world." But seven years later, that vision has — so far — failed to flourish. Foxconn did build a small plant on the site, but far smaller than the one Trump and Foxconn initially announced.
In 2019, the campus was scaled back to a "research hub" that employed far fewer people than initially promised. The effort instead ended up employing about 1,000 workers, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Wisconsin, for its part, said in 2020 it would scale back its promise of billions in tax credits, given that Foxconn had failed to deliver on its original plan.
Meanwhile, another major tech company — Microsoft — stepped in to fill some of the gap left by Foxconn. In 2024, Microsoft said it would build a $3.3 billion data center on on 315 acres adjacent to where Foxconn had planned to construct its campus. Microsoft expects its first building on its new Wisconsin site to be completed in 2026, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Trump made the SoftBank announcement Monday in a statement to the press that turned into extended remarks about his economic plans. Trump pledged to make more tax cuts, even beyond the ones he and Congress enacted in 2017. Trump said any company that invests at least $1 billion in the U.S. will be eligible for fully expedited permit approvals, including environmental approvals, Trump said.
"This will be the most exciting and successful period of reform and renewal in all of American history, maybe of global history, the golden age of America, I call it, it's begun," Trump said.
Trump expressed hope there wouldn't be "intervening" issues in his second term, mentioning the COVID-19 pandemic that ravaged the economy in his first term.
