Boy, hello, isn’t it nice to see real leadership again? Granted, President-elect (I would say “acting President”) Trump isn’t at the Resolute Desk yet, but he’s largely doing his job. On Monday morning, the president-elect held a casual press conference at Mar-a-Lago (aka the Southern White House), and one of the highlights of that event was the White House’s announcement of a $100 billion investment in Japanese technology company SoftBank – It is expected to create 100,000 American jobs.
BREAKING: President Donald J. Trump joins @SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son announces $100 billion in recent U.S. investments over the next four years – creating more than 100,000 recent American jobs. pic.twitter.com/04eZ2h2AMe
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) December 16, 2024
In a comic exchange, SoftBank’s CEO acknowledged the possibility of doubling the investment amount and referred to President Trump as “great negotiator.“
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “I’m going to ask him now: Would you make $200 billion instead of $100 billion? …Would you do that?”
Masayoshi Son, CEO of Softbank: “I will try to make it happen. He’s a great negotiator!”
The art of the deal. pic.twitter.com/nu3w0jvDKe
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) December 16, 2024
The investment is reportedly focused on improving America’s energy and information infrastructure, as well as collaborating with the American technology sector on AI development.
Masayoshi-san seemed very enthusiastic during the exchange, but Donald Trump worked regularly with Japanese companies in his previous term and with then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, with whom President Trump had a personal friendship.
See related: Broken Clock Romney is right: MAGA and Donald Trump are the Republican Party today and tomorrow
The Donald Trump the media doesn’t want to see was on display at Mar-a-Lago this past weekend
So why is this a massive deal?
SoftBank is almost ubiquitous in Japan. In major cities like Tokyo and Osaka, as well as smaller towns across the country, there seems to be a SoftBank branch on every other street corner. They provide business and residential services including cell phones, internet access, and electricity. If you’re looking for a smartphone in Japan, most people will turn to SoftBank. They are a gigantic, successful technology company, one of Japan’s largest, and now they want to expand into the United States and create jobs there. It’s not yet clear exactly what the expansion will look like, other than the general statements above, but a private Japanese company spending $100 billion – perhaps $200 billion – is significant. When I did a lot of work in the Land of the Rising Sun, many of the consultants on various projects I worked on maintained SoftBank phones for local exploit because you could pay your bill or get service almost anywhere.
It’s an captivating business.
Continuing with Fox Business’ Stuart Varney, Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt praised the deal:
Today, President Donald J. Trump and @SoftBank will announce the company’s commitment to make $100 BILLION in recent investments by 2029 – and create more than 100,000 recent jobs in the U.S. during the same period.
It’s the “TRUMP EFFECT,” he says @karolineleavitt. pic.twitter.com/IO8clXUqWr
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) December 16, 2024
A massive part of Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign was about jobs – creating American jobs and relocating American jobs. If this deal goes through as announced, 100,000 American jobs, high-paying tech jobs at that, are nothing to sneeze at.
What was the campaign slogan again? Promises made, promises kept? And he’s not even president yet – technically speaking. We may be in for a very captivating few years.
Note: Joe Biden could not be reached for comment. Why is he even still there?
