Are a lot of these "investments" in the U.S. that Trump brags about just BS?

There are foreign countries and major U.S. corporations bragging about all of this investment in the U.S. and to be sure some of it is happening. But I think a lot of it is just grandstanding and bullshite and by the time anyone notices someone else will be in the White House.

Example - Apple claims they'll invest 500 billion in the U.S. and create 20,000 jobs. One problem...a few years ago apple claimed they would invest 400 billion in the U.S. and create 20,000 jobs. And a few years before that...Apple claimed they would invest 350 billion dollars in the U.S. and create 20,000 jobs. Guess what actually happened? They made some investments and also downsized in other areas and are laying off tech workers just like any other tech firm.


Some other examples - the Gulf States.

Saudi Arabia: These guys can pretty much never be trusted. This is mostly political theater. The Saudis in particular are full of shite. So much so that they bullshite their own people. In 2005 they announced a mega project called King Abdullah Economic City. They've already moved on from that and are all about NEOM now. NEOM as expected is going to be a tiny fraction of what they claimed it would be.

Qatar: The following quote is from the whitehouse website fact sheet

quote:

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Today in Qatar, President Donald J. Trump signed an agreement with Qatar to generate an economic exchange worth at least $1.2 trillion. President Trump also announced economic deals totaling more than $243.5 billion between the United States and Qatar, including an historic sale of Boeing aircraft and GE Aerospace engines to Qatar Airways.

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That all sounds great until you realize the the GDP of Qatar is more around 240 billion give or take. In other words there is really no possible way they can even invest 1.2 trillion even if they wanted to unless it's over some ridiculously long time frame.

That being said countries like Germany, France, and Japan are making some real capital investments in the U.S. as they always have. We have by far the largest equities market in the world so people are going to invest here until things change.

Do I think all of this is bad? No. I think things are generally good. But you'd have to be the dumbest person ever to believe the dollar amount investments that these countries and companies claim to be investing. This is just more about getting in good favor with the current administration and most of it is just a complete dog and pony show.