April 30 (UPI) — Global business leaders discussed more than $2 trillion in proposed U.S. business developments during a Wednesday afternoon “Investing in America” event hosted by President Donald Trump at the White House.
“We’re celebrating the most successful first 100 days of an administration in American history,” Trump said while opening the 40-minute event.
He said dozens of the world’s best business leaders were there to participate and recently announced plans for more than $2 trillion in combined new investments in U.S.-based business ventures.
“We have a total of $8 trillion all told, and there’s never been anything like that is this country,” Trump said.
Something happened
Trump told the audience the Biden administration accounted for less than $1 trillion in total investments over its four years.
“We’ll be above $8 [trillion] in a period of two months,” Trump said. “So something happened.”
The Nov. 5 general election and “intelligently used tariffs and other forms of incentive” happened, he said.
“Together we are going to bring back the most beautiful words … ‘made in the USA,'” Trump told the audience. “We’re going to have ‘made in the USA’ like we haven’t in a long time.”
He said the United States had the worst trade deficit in its history during the Biden administration due to a lack of border enforcement, high taxes, high inflation, crippling regulations and a “war on energy.”
The nation lost 106,000 manufacturing jobs during President Joe Biden‘s final year in office, but Trump said, “now all of that is changing very fast.”
Building a business-friendly government
Reducing waste, lowering taxes and making expenses 100% tax deductible to support the construction of factories in the United States are examples Trump cited for making the nation more business-friendly.
He said many of the world’s largest manufacturers are planning to build factories in the United States to get around tariffs.
He thanked business leaders for joining the Investing in America event and invited GE Aerospace Chief Executive Officer Larry Culp to address the audience.
Culp said GE Aerospace is 125 years old and builds the engines that power three-fourths of the world’s commercial airlines and nearly two-thirds of the U.S. military’s combat aircraft and helicopters.
“We’re excited about what’s happening in our company,” Culp said.
“We’re investing a billion dollars this year across 16 states,” he added, “not only in our manufacturing footprint but with some many of the small and mid-sized businesses that constitute our supply chain.”
Factories of the Future in the United States
SoftBank Chief Executive Officer Masayoshi Son said he wanted to commit $100 billion to business development in the United States on behalf of OpenAI, Oracle and MGX, but Trump asked for more.
“So we did the $200 billion commitment,” Son said, “Then, right after that, we announced a $500 billion investment for SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle and MGX together.”
He said it is the largest infrastructure investment in the United States and for AI and will change every industry and mankind’s lifestyle.
“The U.S. is the center of innovation,” Son said. “The U.S. must continue the leadership of AI.”
Nvidia founder and Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang also addressed the audience and recently announced a planned $500 billion investment to manufacture AI chips in the United States.
Huang said Nvidia has re-invented the computer, which largely remained the same since the 1960s, and Nvidia plans to build the next generation of computers in the United States.
Trump’s leadership, policies, support and “strong encouragement” made that move possible, he said.
“Manufacturing isn’t about low-cost labor anymore,” Huang said “Manufacturing is about technology, and most of the factories that build these systems today are the most advanced factories in the future.”
He said the factories of the future will be built in the United States and use AI to power them.
Energy policies support tech firms
Trump’s energy policy makes it possible for new-growth industries to emerge, thrive and spur additional growth, Huang added.
Trump agreed energy is very important to support AI and said the nation needs to more than double its electricity production.
The nation’s energy grid is old, and he offered to allow firms to produce their own electricity instead of relying on aging energy grids that are more prone to failure as energy demands rise.
Trump thanked the business leaders for attending and invited them to tour the Oval Office after concluding the Investing in America event.
