Trump, Softbank CEO announce $100B SoftBank investment in the US

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump was joined by SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son at his Florida home on Monday to announce that the Japanese company is planning to invest $100 billion in U.S. projects over the next four years.

Trump has in the past announced deals with much fanfare, but they have sometimes failed to deliver on promised investments.

For example, Foxconn Technology Group, a Taiwan-based company best known for making Apple iPhones, won Trump's praise by announcing plans in 2017 to build a $10 billion complex and employ 13,000 people in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin. But Foxconn's investment has been scaled back to a fraction of that as the tech industry ran into problems after COVID-19 pandemic temporarily pushed up demand for work-at-home technology.

But Monday's announcement concerning the SoftBank technology group nonetheless is a win for Trump, who has used the weeks since the election to try to promote his policies, negotiate with foreign leaders and try to strike deals.

Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s incoming White House press secretary, said Trump “is not even in the Oval Office yet and he’s already delivering on his promises for the American worker.”

He had already been threatening to levy steep tariffs on Mexico and Canada, which prompted a visit from Canada’s prime minister and a call with Mexico's president.

In a post on his Truth Social site Tuesday, Trump said anyone making a $1 billion investment in the United States “will receive fully expedited approvals and permits, including, but in no way limited to, all Environmental approvals.”

“GET READY TO ROCK!!!” he added.

SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.

The company's investment portfolio includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia. Earlier this year, it joined a partnership with Saudi Arabia to build a robot factory in Riyadh.

Monday's announcement comes days after Trump vowed to expedite federal permits for energy projects and other construction worth more than $1 billion.

After Trump won the White House the first time 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, which Trump celebrated on social media, saying it never would have happened if he hadn't won the election.

Some of the Softbank investments floundered, including one in the office-sharing company WeWork.

Monday's announcement was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Associated Press writers Jill Colvin in New York and Paul Wiseman in Washington contributed to this story.