Trump in 2018:
This is just the beginning. This is one of the largest plants in the world. And when you think in terms of 20 million feet — if you build in Manhattan a million-foot building, that’s a very big building. They don’t get much bigger. And here you’re talking about more. Think of it: more than 20 million feet. And that’s probably going to be a minimal number.
So I’m thrilled to be here in the Badger State with the hardworking men and women of Foxconn working with you. Moments ago, we broke ground on a plant that will provide jobs for much more than 13,000 Wisconsin workers. (Applause.) Really something. Really something. Thank you, fellas.
....And Masa Son — you want to talk about another successful guy — he was in my office. He said — a friend of mine set it up — said, “I want to invest $50 billion in the United States.” I said, “You don’t mean $50 billion. You mean $50 million.” And that would have been okay. That would have been worth about a five-minute meeting. $50 million. (Laughter.) And so I thought he was saying $50 million.
The Verge in 2024:
Trump said Foxconn’s $10 billion investment, which would create 13,000 new jobs, would be the “eighth wonder of the world.” Most of it never materialized.
The company later downsized its plans for the factory. As Josh Dzieza reported for The Verge, the innovation centers stayed empty, and Foxconn hired just a few hundred employees, many of whom were later laid off. According to Dzieza’s reporting, many of the people who ended up employed by Foxconn were hired so the company could get a tax subsidy payment from the state of Wisconsin. The state ended up rejecting Foxconn’s subsidy application after finding that the company had only employed 281 people eligible under the contract. In the end, the project left Racine worse off: to build the factory, the state seized land, including people’s homes, via eminent domain and diverted water from Lake Michigan.
This is just the beginning. This is one of the largest plants in the world. And when you think in terms of 20 million feet — if you build in Manhattan a million-foot building, that’s a very big building. They don’t get much bigger. And here you’re talking about more. Think of it: more than 20 million feet. And that’s probably going to be a minimal number.
So I’m thrilled to be here in the Badger State with the hardworking men and women of Foxconn working with you. Moments ago, we broke ground on a plant that will provide jobs for much more than 13,000 Wisconsin workers. (Applause.) Really something. Really something. Thank you, fellas.
....And Masa Son — you want to talk about another successful guy — he was in my office. He said — a friend of mine set it up — said, “I want to invest $50 billion in the United States.” I said, “You don’t mean $50 billion. You mean $50 million.” And that would have been okay. That would have been worth about a five-minute meeting. $50 million. (Laughter.) And so I thought he was saying $50 million.
The Verge in 2024:
Trump said Foxconn’s $10 billion investment, which would create 13,000 new jobs, would be the “eighth wonder of the world.” Most of it never materialized.
The company later downsized its plans for the factory. As Josh Dzieza reported for The Verge, the innovation centers stayed empty, and Foxconn hired just a few hundred employees, many of whom were later laid off. According to Dzieza’s reporting, many of the people who ended up employed by Foxconn were hired so the company could get a tax subsidy payment from the state of Wisconsin. The state ended up rejecting Foxconn’s subsidy application after finding that the company had only employed 281 people eligible under the contract. In the end, the project left Racine worse off: to build the factory, the state seized land, including people’s homes, via eminent domain and diverted water from Lake Michigan.
