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Since returning to the White House, US President Donald Trump has touted corporate and foreign US investment announcements as proof he is ushering in “the golden age of America”.

On January 21, Trump said that before he’d finished the “first full business day” of his second term, the United States had “already secured nearly $3 trillion of new investments”.

On April 2, he said, “It looks like we’re going to have about $6 trillion of investments”. Six days later, Trump told National Republican Congressional Committee Dinner attendees that the investment total was “now revised up to about $7 (trillion)”.

During an April 30 NewsNation town hall, Trump speculated that “it could be more than $8 trillion”.

On May 4, Trump told Kristen Welker, the host of the NBC News programme Meet the Press, “I think we probably have close to $9 trillion of investments coming into this country.”

On May 6, Trump told reporters, “I think the real number could be $9 or $10 trillion.”

Finally, on May 8, Trump said, “We have now close to $10 trillion — think of that, $10 trillion” in investments. “We’re talking about essentially two months.”

That’s far beyond the figures the White House has released publicly.

We tallied the White House’s public lists of investments; they amount to $2.1 trillion in corporate investments, or at most $5.1 trillion when including promised investments from other countries. Experts cautioned that the promised corporate investments are not guaranteed to materialise in full, or during Trump’s presidency, and some of them would have occurred regardless of who was president.

Trump isn’t the first to overstate new investments on his watch. Outgoing US President Joe Biden said in 2024 that his bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act had attracted $640bn in private investments; economists told PolitiFact that Biden’s numbers were based on what companies had announced, which is not the same as dollars already spent.

Roman V Yampolskiy, a University of Louisville professor and a specialist in artificial intelligence, which dominates the promised investments Trump cited, said, “Historically, large-scale investment announcements often overpromise and underdeliver. There is a performative element to them, especially in politically charged contexts. They function as political theatre as much as economic commitment.”

White House lists do not match Trump’s words

Since Trump’s inauguration, the White House has publicised investment announcements from three countries and roughly 60 companies on its website, including in a “non-comprehensive running list”. Many of the highest-dollar corporate announcements were in March and April.

Corporate announcements in the White House’s lists total approximately $2.1 trillion worth of US investment.

The White House separately has cited commitments from the United Arab Emirates to invest $1.4 trillion over the next 10 years; from Japan to “boost” its investment in the US to $1 trillion; and from Saudi Arabia to invest $600bn in the US during Trump’s presidency. Combined with the corporate announcements, these bring the total to about $5.1 trillion, $4.9 trillion short of Trump’s figure.

But the $5.1 trillion total has caveats. For example, the White House said “Japan announced a $1 trillion investment in the US”, but the article it linked said in 2023, Japan’s US investment was $783.3bn and Japan would “boost” that to $1 trillion. That’s an increase of $216.7bn rather than a new $1 trillion investment. That would put the total value of newly pledged US investment at about $4.3 trillion.

Trump’s second-term White House tally of US investments 

The White House figures can’t easily be used for apples-to-apples comparisons. Some of the investments are planned over Trump’s four-year term, others over five years or a decade. In one case – ADQ and Energy Capital Partners’ planned $25bn investment — it isn’t limited to US-based projects.

The White House declined to detail additional investments. A spokesperson pointed to federal Bureau of Economic Analysis data that shows a 22 percent increase in business investment in the first quarter of 2025, calling it a historic increase.

However, experts cautioned this increase was shaped by businesses stocking up on inventory before Trump’s tariffs take effect and said the increase is unlikely to be sustained.

Many of the announcements are aspirational, experts say

Experts told PolitiFact that each of the five biggest investments on Trump’s list warrants some caution, because they might not reach Trump’s cited dollar amounts or were not solely prompted by Trump’s policies.

“Many of these announcements, particularly those in the AI and semiconductor sectors, appear to be, at least in part, aspirational in nature,” Yampolskiy said. “They serve a signalling function: to attract investor attention, shape policy discourse, and secure favourable regulatory or funding environments.”

The five largest company investments collectively account for 82 percent of the dollar value on the White House’s corporate list.

Five companies accounting for the majority of new investment promises are:

Stargate

The Stargate Project is an artificial intelligence collaboration among OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank, announced during a January 21 White House event. The White House values the investment at $500bn.

The company’s official announcement says $100bn will be invested “immediately” and that it “intends to invest” a total of $500bn over the next four years, a goal repeated by SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son at the White House event.

“Whether that much will ultimately get spent remains to be seen,” wrote John Higgins, chief economist at Capital Economics, an international consulting firm.

Enrique Dans, who studies technology and policy at Madrid’s IE Business School, said the $500bn figure is “astronomical – roughly 2 percent of US gross domestic product – and lacks clear documentation”.

At the White House event, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said, “We wouldn’t be able to do this without you, Mr President.” But Altman had been discussing plans for a $100bn investment 10 months before Trump won his second term, The Washington Post reported, including an Abilene, Texas, data centre that began construction in summer 2024.

“AI investments have been on a global trajectory driven by technological maturity and competitive pressure, especially from China,” Dans said. “Any US president would have seen a surge.”

Nvidia

Nvidia Corp, another AI company, said it plans to invest up to $500bn in US infrastructure over the next four years. Previously, Nvidia manufactured most of its chips in Taiwan.

“It is unlikely Nvidia would have moved any production to the US if it was not for pressure from the Trump administration,” Gil Luria, an analyst with the financial services firm D.A. Davidson, told Reuters. However, Luria added, “The half a trillion number is likely hyperbole.”

Dans said that although tax cuts from Trump’s first term have benefited the company’s focus on US-based efforts, “the core growth likely would have occurred anyway”, regardless of the president.

Apple

On February 24, days after Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, met with Trump, the consumer electronics giant announced it plans to spend “more than $500bn in the US over the next four years.”

Analysts have expressed scepticism that this represents new investment. Dans called the investment “simply more of what [Apple] already does,” from “day-to-day activities with thousands of suppliers in all 50 states to the operation of its domestic data centres, as well as its investments in Apple TV+ and other projects already manufactured in the country.”

In a note to investors, David Vogt, an analyst with the Swiss-based bank UBS, wrote, “Call us a sceptic. … We believe [the figure] lacks substance.”

IBM

IBM announced April 28 plans to invest $150bn in the US, including more than $30bn in research and development on US-based manufacturing of mainframe and quantum computers.

This is “not clearly Trump-related,” Dans said. “IBM’s strategy pivots have been under way since the 2010s.”

Luria said, “While we believe IBM will continue to invest in the emerging area of quantum technology, the bombastic figure is more likely a gesture towards the US administration,” Reuters reported.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, which makes semiconductors for computing and electronics, has pledged to spend $100bn in the US. Analysts said this number is the most well-supported among the investments that Trump cites. Although bringing semiconductor production back to the US began during Trump’s first term, it was “greatly accelerated by” Biden’s CHIPS and Science Act, which prompted years of investment before Trump’s second term, Dans said.

Over the past five years, the company has spent at least $65bn on fabrication facilities near Phoenix, Arizona, funded in part by $6.6bn from the CHIPS and Science Act.

Overall, Dans said, “Trump might deserve some partial credit for setting a more aggressive tone on economic nationalism and supply chain reshoring, and for lowering the corporate tax reform, which did affect repatriation and some investment decisions. But most of these trends — the AI boom, the semiconductor reshoring, the cloud computing infrastructure — are long-term structural shifts that predate Trump and will continue regardless of who is in office.”

Our ruling

Trump said, “We have now close to $10 trillion, think of that, $10 trillion” in investments. “We’re talking about essentially two months.”

The White House has pointed to investment announcements totalling $5.1 trillion, including $2.1 trillion from companies and the rest from countries.

That’s at least $4.9 trillion short of Trump’s figure, and these announcements represent future spending, some of which is planned over four years, five years or a decade.

Experts said many of the dollar amounts are aspirational and that the investments announced might never be fully reached. They also said some of this investment would have occurred regardless of who was president.

A ceasefire between India and Pakistan appears to be holding, after both sides accused each other of initial violations, as an uneasy calm has taken hold following days of the worst eruption of fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours in decades.

The Indian military sent a “hotline message” to Pakistan on Sunday about violations of an agreed-upon ceasefire, informing it of New Delhi’s intent to respond if this was repeated, a top Indian army officer said.

India’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) was speaking on Sunday as a fragile 24-hour-old ceasefire appeared to be holding after both sides blamed the other for initial violations on Saturday night.

The truce announced on Saturday halted several days of missiles and drones being fired at each country across their shared border, killing almost 70 people.

Diplomacy and pressure from the United States helped secure the ceasefire deal when it seemed that the conflict was spiralling towards a full-scale war. Within hours of its coming into force, there were explosions in Indian-administered Kashmir, the centre of much of last week’s fighting.

Blasts from air-defence systems boomed in cities near the border under a blackout, similar to those heard during the previous two evenings, according to local authorities, residents and witnesses.

“Sometimes, these understandings take time to fructify, manifest on the ground,” Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai, the Indian DGMO, told a media briefing, referring to the truce. “The [Indian] armed forces were on a very, very high alert [yesterday] and continue to be in that state.”

The Indian army chief had given a mandate to its commanders to deal with “violations of any kind” from across the borders in the best way they deem fit, Ghai added.

He said his Pakistani counterpart called him on Saturday afternoon and proposed the two countries “cease hostilities” and urgently requested a ceasefire.

There was no immediate response to the Indian comments from Pakistan. Early on Sunday, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry had said that it was committed to the truce agreement and blamed India for the violations.

US President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire on Saturday, saying it was reached after talks mediated by Washington.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said India and Pakistan had also agreed to start talks on “a broad set of issues at a neutral site”.

While Islamabad has thanked Washington for facilitating the ceasefire and welcomed Trump’s offer to mediate on the Kashmir dispute with India, New Delhi has not commented on US involvement in the truce or talks at a neutral site.

India maintains that disputes with Pakistan have to be resolved directly by the two countries and rejects any third-party involvement.

On Sunday, Trump praised the leaders of both countries for agreeing to halt the aggression and said he would “substantially” increase trade with them.

Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan each rule a part of disputed Kashmir but claim it in full, and have twice gone to war over the Himalayan region.

India blames Pakistan for an insurgency in its part of the territory, but Pakistan says it provides only moral, political and diplomatic support to Kashmiri separatists.

‘A tough night in border areas’

Among those most affected by the fighting were residents on either side of the border, many of whom fled their homes when the fighting began on Wednesday, two weeks after a deadly attack in Indian-administered Kashmir’s Pahalgam that India said was backed by Islamabad.

Pakistan denied the accusation.

Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javaid, reporting from Lahore, Pakistan, said it was “a tough night for a lot of people in the border areas”.

“People said there was shelling in the early hours of the morning and throughout the evening, even after the announcement of ceasefire,” Bin Javaid said.

Although people are cautious, they’re “not coming back yet to their homes because they believe that this is not over yet”, he said, adding that there has been damage in several villages across the Line of Control.

Overall, however, “there’s jubilation and celebration,” Bin Javaid added.

In the Indian border city of Amritsar, home to the Golden Temple revered by Sikhs, people returned to the streets on Sunday morning after a siren sounded to signal the resumption of normal activities following the tension of recent days.

“Ever since the terrorists attacked people in Pahalgam, we have been shutting our shops very early and there was an uncertainty. I am happy that at least there will be no bloodshed on both sides,” said Satvir Singh Alhuwalia, 48, a shopkeeper in the city.

Another local resident noted the “calm” and “happiness” throughout the Kashmir Valley since the ceasefire announcement.

“You can feel it in the air … but there seems to be a bit of fear, as well. Will it hold, given the past history of both these nations?” asked Muteeb Banday.

“[Kashmiris] want … long-lasting peace, so that we can go and live our lives, think about our future, make our lives better.”

In some border areas, however, people were asked not to return home just yet. In the Indian-administered Kashmir city of Baramulla, authorities warned residents to stay away due to the threat posed by unexploded munitions.

“People here are hosting us well, but just as a bird feels at peace in its own nest, we also feel comfortable only in our own homes, even if they have been damaged,” said Azam Chaudhry, 55, who fled his home in the Pakistani town of Khuiratta and has now been told to wait until Monday before returning.

In Indian-administered Kashmir’s Uri, a key power plant that was damaged in a Pakistani drone attack is still under repair.