The economic boom promised by President Donald Trump centres on a single number: USD 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 USD 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 USD 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 USD 8.8 trillion, though that figure appears to be padded with some investment commitments made during Joe Biden’s