Washington – President Donald Trump casually mentioned Tuesday that Foxconn’s chairman told him in confidence the electronics giant’s investment could reach $30 billion, triple the size of last week’s deal with Wisconsin that some already viewed as optimistically inflated.
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Trump made the comments while addressing small-business leaders at the White House. He didn’t elaborate on how the figure could grow so high or even clarify whether he was referring to just Wisconsin or nationwide — including investments in other plants not yet announced.
“They’re going to spend $10 billion, but he is one of the great businessmen of our time,” Trump said in reference to Foxconn CEO Terry Gou. “And I think the number is going to be $30 billion. He told me off the record he thinks he may go $30 billion, $30 billion. Think of this. He may go 30 billion dollar investment, but he told me that off the record so I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone.”
Foxconn officials didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
Also Tuesday, Wisconsin state lawmakers wrestled with how quickly to proceed on a $3 billion tax incentive package to land the massive plant.
Gov. Scott Walker and Foxconn signed a deal on Thursday for the Taiwanese company to invest $10 billion in the state and initially employ 3,000 people by 2020, with up to 13,000 within six years.
Walker, after meeting with Senate Republicans, said there is a “potential for a few tweaks here and there but I don’t think there will be major changes” to the proposal. He also said it was reasonable for lawmakers to sign off on the deal — the largest economic development project in state history — in a couple weeks. The agreement calls for Wisconsin to finalize the deal by the end of September.
But Democrats, and even some Republicans, said they needed more time to understand the ramifications of the $3 billion incentive package. The refundable tax credits being offered to Foxconn are tied to the company meeting investment and employment targets, but an analysis of the bill’s effects has not been completed by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
Democratic Rep. Gordon Hintz, a member of the Legislature’s budget committee, said he had too many unanswered questions to support the bill at this point.
“How is it supposed to be transparent and open if it is being rushed through in two weeks?” Hintz said.
Walker also said that at least one other state vying for the project offered Foxconn even more money, but “it wasn’t a huge gap.” He didn’t indicate which state or states topped the offer or signal how he learned about it.
Foxconn also considered sites in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas. The company said in a press release last week when it announced that Wisconsin had been selected that it was the first of several expected investments in the country.
Foxconn is expected to produce liquid-crystal display panels that are used in televisions and computer screens. The plant would open in 2020 and employ 3,000 people initially, but Foxconn has said that could grow to 13,000 within six years.
Isn’t Trump the one who has been complaining like a baby without stop about people leaking information? The centerpiece of this article is that Trump himself said, “He may go 30 billion dollar investment, but he told me that off the record so I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone.”
What was it that Trump’s buddy Scaramucci said about leakers less than two weeks ago?
Like everything else agent orange says, we’ll believe it when we see it.