How much did Mideast countries promise to invest in the US? Trump keeps jacking up the number
WASHINGTON AP President Donald Trump loves big numbers and he s unfailingly happy to talk them up Trump who coined the phrase truthful hyperbole in his book The Art of the Deal over the last scant days has been steadily increasing the amount of money he says that countries in the Mideast pledged to invest in the U S when he visited the region last week He didn t provide underlying details The figure has gone from trillion last week to potentially trillion as of Tuesday according to statements by Trump and the White House A look at how the number has bounced around THURSDAY With his Mideast trip still under way Trump explained reporters on Air Force One We just took in trillion FRIDAY A White House announcement commented Trump s first official trip was a huge success locking in over trillion in great deals MONDAY We brought back about trillion Trump commented in remarks to the Kennedy Center s leadership That s not bad And it s being credited as one of the maybe the majority fruitful visit that anybody s ever made to any place There s never been anything like this TUESDAY They re spending trillion presumably it s going to be trillion by the time we stop Trump noted before a U S Capitol meeting with Republican House members The White House did not respond to a request to explain the sources of Trump s escalating maintains The White House did provide a breakdown on the trillion in its Friday report It included billion in outlay from Saudi Arabia which the country stated in January as part of a four-year commitment There would also be a trillion economic exchange with Qatar as well as billion in commercial and defense deals with that country The United Arab Emirates committed to billion in deals with the U S putting the initial White House total at trillion provided all those commitments are literally fulfilled Not all of the commitment commitments or promised jobs are sure to materialize so the final tally might not be as much as promised Trump announced in that the electronics manufacturer Foxconn would build a billion factory in Wisconsin employing people only for the company to back down from that commitment in Source
