President Donald Trump invited chief executive officers (CEOs) of major corporations that announced investments in the U.S. to the White House on the 30th (local time), praising their investments and emphasizing the effectiveness of his tariff policy. He attributed the contraction in gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter to the "Joe Biden administration."
During the "U.S. investment" event held at the White House with about 20 global corporate CEOs in attendance, Trump stated, "The companies in this room have announced more than $2 trillion (about 2,852 trillion won) in new (U.S.) investments combined," adding, "Overall, this amounts to $8 trillion (about 1,408 trillion won) when combined with other corporations, which is unprecedented in American history."
He argued, "If you look at the four years of the previous administration, they probably attracted less than $1 trillion in investment," claiming that his election and "tariffs and other forms of incentives" are the reasons.
Trump noted, "All the new investments, new factories, and new jobs created are a signal that the U.S. economy is strong and a declaration that we are confident in America's future," adding, "We have never seen anything like this before."
He further mentioned, "I heard that even Samsung, whose name was not mentioned today, will build a very large factory to overcome the tariffs, as they announced this morning." Earlier, Trump also referenced Samsung in a similar context during a cabinet meeting that day.
Trump first mentioned Jose Munoz, president of Hyundai Motor Company, saying, "Thank you," before referencing the $2.1 billion (about 30 trillion won) investment that Hyundai announced at the White House last month. He referred to the job creation resulting from the construction of the steel mill in Louisiana as part of that investment, then reiterated, "Jose, thank you, beautiful."
Trump subsequently named various companies attended by CEOs such as NVIDIA, Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly, General Electric (GE), SoftBank, and Toyota, prompting the CEOs to stand before mentioning their investment achievements and exclaiming words such as "thank you," "amazing," and "fantastic."
Meanwhile, regarding the contraction in the first-quarter GDP, Trump claimed, "The core GDP, excluding distorting factors such as imports, inventories, and government expenditures, rose by 3%" and stated about the contraction figure, "That is the fault of the Biden economy," adding, "We took office on January 20, and I believe you should give us more time." He further noted, "Within a week, we will pass the largest tax cut in American history."