Trump says the US has secured $17 trillion in new investments. The real
number is likely much less
[October 07, 2025] By
JOSH BOAK
WASHINGTON (AP) — The economic boom promised by President Donald Trump
centers on a single number: $17 trillion.
That's the sum of new investments that Trump claims to have generated
with his tariffs, income tax cuts and aggressive salesmanship of CEOs,
financiers, tech titans, prime ministers, presidents and other rulers.
The $17 trillion is supposed to fund new factories, new technologies,
more jobs, higher incomes and faster economic growth.
“Under eight months of Trump, we’ve already secured commitments of $17
trillion coming in,” the president said in a speech last month. “There’s
never been any country that’s done anything like that.”
But based on statements from various companies, foreign countries and
the White House's own website, that figure appears to be exaggerated,
highly speculative and far higher than the actual sum. The White House
website lists total investments at $8.8 trillion, though that figure
appears to be padded with some investment commitments made during Joe
Biden's presidency.
The White House didn't lay out the math after multiple requests as to
how Trump calculated $17 trillion in investment commitments. But the
issue goes beyond Trump's hyperbolic talk to his belief that the brute
force of tariffs and shaming of companies can deliver economic results,
a strategy that could go sideways for him politically if the tough talk
fails to translate into more jobs and higher incomes.
Just 37% of U.S. adults approve of Trump's handling of the economy,
according to a September poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for
Public Affairs. That's down from a peak of 56% in early 2020 during
Trump's first term — a memory he relied upon when courting voters in
last year's election.
Adam Posen, president of the Peterson Institute of International
Economics, said the public commitments announced by Trump do represent a
“meaningful increase” — but one that amounts to hundreds of billions of
dollars, not trillions. Even then, that comes with long-term costs as
countries might be less inclined to invest with the U.S. after being
threatened to do so.
“It is a national security mistake because you’re turning allies into
colonies of a sort — you’re forcibly extracting from them things that
they don’t see as entirely in their interest,” Posen said. “Twisting the
arms of governments to then twist the arms of their own businesses is
not going to get you the payoff you want.”
Trump banking on foreign countries making good on promises
The Trump administration is betting that tariffs are an effective tool
to prod other countries and international companies to invest in the
United States, a big stick that other administrations failed to wield.
Trump's pitch to voters is that he will play a role in directly managing
the investment commitments made by foreign countries — and that the
allocation of that money starting next year will revive what has been a
flagging job market.
“The difference between hypothetical investments and ground being broken
on new factories and facilities is good leadership and sound policy,"
said White House spokesman Kush Desai.
The White House said that Japan will invest $1 trillion, largely at
Trump's direction. The European Union will commit $600 billion. The
United Arab Emirates made commitments of $1.4 trillion over 10 years.
Qatar pledged $1.2 trillion. Saudi Arabia intends to pony up $600
billion, India $500 billion and South Korea $450 billion, among others.
[to top of second column] |
President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new
tariffs, April 2, 2025, in the Rose Garden at the White House in
Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
 The challenge is the precise terms
of those investments have yet to be fully codified and released to
the public, and some numbers are under dispute, potentially fuzzy
math or, in the case of Qatar, more than five times the annual gross
domestic product of the entire country. The White House maintains
that Qatar is good for the money because it produces oil.
South Korea already has misgivings about its investment commitment,
which is $100 billion lower than what the White House claims, after
immigration agents raided a Hyundai plant under construction in
Georgia and arrested Korean citizens. There are also concerns that
an investment that large without a better way to exchange currencies
with the U.S. could hurt South Korea's economy.
“From what I’ve seen, these commitments are worth about as much as
the paper they’re not written down on,” said Jared Bernstein, who
was the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Biden
White House.
As for the $600 billion committed by European companies, that's
based on those businesses having “expressed interest” and having
stated “intentions” to do so through 2029 rather than an overt
concession, according to European Union documents.
Still too soon to see any investment impact in overall economy
So far, there has yet to be a notable boost in business investment
as a percentage of U.S. gross domestic product. As a share of the
overall economy, business investment during the first six months of
Trump's presidency has been consistently bouncing around 14%, just
as it was before the pandemic.
But economists also note that Trump is double-counting and relying
on investments that were initially announced during the Biden
administration or investments that were already likely to occur
because of the artificial intelligence build out.
For example, the White House lists a $16 billion investment by
computer chipmaker Global Foundries. But of that sum, more than $13
billion was announced during the Biden administration and supported
by $1.6 billion in grants by the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, as well
as other state and federal incentives.
Similarly, the White House is banking on $200 billion being invested
by the chipmaker Micron, but at least $120 billion of that was
announced during the Biden era.
‘The tariffs played a big role’
For their part, White House officials largely credit Trump's tariffs
— like those imposed on Oct. 1 on kitchen cabinets, large trucks and
pharmaceutical drugs — for forcing companies to make investments in
the U.S., saying that the risk of additional import taxes if
countries and companies fail to deliver on their promises will
ensure that the promised cash comes into the economy.
On Tuesday, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla endorsed this approach after
his pharmaceutical drug company received a three-year grace period
on tariffs and announced $70 billion in investments in the U.S.
“The president was absolutely right,” Bourla said. “Tariffs is the
most powerful tool to motivate behaviors.”
“The tariffs played a big role,” Trump added.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
