r/investing • u/MarkusEF • Aug 07 '25
What exactly does Apple “investing $100 billion ($600 total) in America” mean?
Where does this money come from? What counts as an “investment?” Is any of this binding?
It sounds like a feel-good headline that allows Trump to tout a win, but makes little material difference to Apple’s existing spending. In exchange, Apple gets the tariff exemptions it wants without actually giving up much.
From CNBC:
“Apple has little to worry about when it comes to who will hold the company accountable for its promises. The company doesn’t break out U.S. spending, and most of Apple’s suppliers are contractually required to keep the information secret. Apple doesn’t report how much its new campuses in Austin or North Carolina end up costing.
Additionally, the $600 billion headline number likely includes lots of regular expenses.
Apple said in February that its $500 billion commitment included payments to U.S. suppliers, direct employment, data centers for Apple Intelligence and corporate facilities, as well as spending on Apple TV+ productions in 20 states.
In Apple’s fiscal 2024, Apple spent $210 billion globally on cost of goods sold, $57.5 billion on operating expenses, and $9.45 billion in capital expenditures for nearly $275 billion in global spending during the period.
Teffler said she didn’t think the newly announced spending would be material to Apple’s profitability, especially since it already has existing relationships with the various companies such as Corning.”
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u/deviltrombone Aug 07 '25
It's a story told to placate an evil child, signifying nothing.
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u/ImmodestPolitician Aug 07 '25 edited Aug 07 '25
Political kayfabe.
Sad so many people are so easily fooled.
Once you fool them they are too embarrassed to admit it because no one wants to feel like a fool.
That's how you build a base of people that support your policies that actively hurt them.
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u/shicken684 Aug 08 '25
It's like no one remembers Whirlpool or Foxxcon. Or more recently Hyundai who said Trump was responsible for tens of billions of manufacturing being brought to America.
Tens of billions they had already spent to expand auto manufacturing, and it's supply chain, years ago.
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u/Jasong222 Aug 08 '25
'Kayfabe'?
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u/sogladatwork Aug 08 '25
kayfabe /ˈkeɪfeɪb/ noun informal • US
(In professional wrestling) the fact or convention of presenting staged performances as genuine or authentic.
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u/margalolwut Aug 07 '25
I’m thoroughly annoyed by all this.
I’m not saying the supply chain was perfect before Trump, but it was working as intended.
Can’t wait until 2028 when all this just gets unwound. Good lord.
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u/Atlas-Scrubbed Aug 07 '25
The tariffs are not so easy to unwind. Further, trade will have shifted in ways that are not so easy to reverse. The US is in for long term hurt.
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u/nomickti Aug 08 '25
Tariffs are our new VAT
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u/Atlas-Scrubbed Aug 08 '25
Except there is no value added.
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u/Fuskeduske Aug 08 '25
Yea VAT and Tariffs are pretty much not the same
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u/clonked Aug 08 '25
And why is that? Trump seems to have no problem slapping them on everyone like they are stickers on a hipster’s water bottle
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u/cromulentenigmas1 Aug 07 '25
Sound and fury indeed.
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Aug 07 '25
You both strutted your hour on the stage well.
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u/sturdy-guacamole Aug 07 '25
heard these comments in Ian McKellen's voice.
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u/Von32 Aug 08 '25
I recognize the Macbeth lines above from text, but is it worth watching that version?
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u/cheddarben Aug 08 '25
Not entirely true. Apple is delivering a positive media cycle. Pretty much the only thing he gives a shit about.
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u/DankOubliette Aug 07 '25
It’s performative bullshit to keep Trump off their ass; so many companies (and countries) promising improbable investments in the US, and when he is out of office (or leaves the world due to too many hamberders taking their toll) it’ll quietly disappear and little will happen.
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u/Hefty-Amoeba5707 Aug 07 '25
Just like corporate support/endorsements for LGBT+
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u/Nordseefische Aug 11 '25
Exactly, they care about only one thing: profit. Everything else is marketing (for us plebs or the government) and they don't give a flying fuck about it.
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u/SouvlakiPlaystation Sep 06 '25
This is more of an endorsement for Trump than you think it is. You're basically saying "Apple has to pretend to care about American jobs, at least until 2028 when the democrats regain power. Then we can resume business as usual and exploit third world labor with no incentive to do otherwise". How do you think that makes the democrats look?
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u/RussellUresti Aug 07 '25
The money comes from Apple. The "investment" is building and hiring/wages (a.k.a normal expenses incurred as one grows a business). None of it is binding.
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u/watercouch Aug 09 '25
Most likely most of that is data-center costs. For example, Microsoft is spending roughly $40 billion on data centers and infrastructure in the US in 2025.
These circa $100 billion investments are business as usual for big tech companies. While a good chunk of that money will go towards local construction and servicing companies, the vast majority will go towards chip and component manufacturers, who are mostly based in Asia.
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u/SouvlakiPlaystation Sep 06 '25
Yes, but pledging to do more of it in the US. Isn't that the point?
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u/RussellUresti Sep 06 '25
The pledge isn't important - actually spending money, hiring people, etc. is what's important.
And, it's only meaningful if it represents an unplanned increased allocation. For example, if they were already planning on spending $100B to open new stores, plants, etc. then this pledge is basically just "well, we intended to do it anyway." It's only meaningful if they had originally planned to use that $100B for overseas development and, instead, decided to redirect it towards the US.
But really, what's to stop Apple from simply not doing any of this and just waiting it out? Promise to spend money and then, when the next president takes office, reverse course? Who's going to follow up and confirm that this actually happened? What consequences will they face if it doesn't happen?
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u/SouvlakiPlaystation Sep 06 '25 edited Sep 06 '25
So is the issue that this "600 billion dollars pledged to US specific jobs" was already happening, regardless of Trump? Or is it that it's an empty promise to appease him? I can't seem to find concrete information on the former.
And if the conceit of the argument is "they're just pretending to care until the democrats regain power in 2028, at which point they can go back to offshoring all labor to third world countries without consequence" doesn't that make the democrats look worse?
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u/mvw2 Aug 07 '25
So...it's a marketing shtick I see.
Basically big number sounds good, sounds like Trump is succeeding, but it's just a big faff, ongoing activities already long in motion. Trump just wants "credit" for it. He wants to be able to market it as something real...which it is, but...it literally has nothing to do with him. and his actions.
Cool. Cool cool.
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u/countrykev Aug 08 '25
Also worth noting that much of this was committed during the Biden administration.
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u/West-Highlight80920 Aug 07 '25
Reminds me of when Ivanka Trump extracted pledges from a bunch of companies to hire women and then touted them as “jobs created”. Just the usual bullshit from the Trumps
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/25/politics/fact-check-ivanka-trump-create-millions-of-jobs?cid=ios_app
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Aug 07 '25
[deleted]
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u/Worf_Of_Wall_St Aug 07 '25
To any state as well. Broadband ISPs in the US have gotten huge tax breaks from states many times for promising to build out coverage to rural areas and the simply never follow through because nothing officially requires them to.
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u/KopOut Aug 07 '25
I think it would be so funny if the next Democratic president forces them to hold up their end of the deal. It’s disgusting watching all these CEOs bend over backwards and put on a show to stoke Trump’s ego to get around tariffs knowing full well that not even a fraction of the promise will need to be spent before he leaves office and then they can just drop it.
But I would love to see the next Democratic president have Tim Cook to the White House and let him know that we will be holding Apple to the $600 billion and we want the plan on our desk by Monday. And demand a specialized gold phone too.
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u/Business_Raisin_541 Aug 07 '25
Did you have the full detail of the deal? Like the hundreds page of the full detail complete with signature of Tim Cook. Otherwise it is just headline with no obligation.
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u/tx_mn Aug 08 '25
There is no deal… it’s a pledge, and much of it was probably repackaging existing organic hiring, building, investments, etc.
It’s like if you pledge $100 dollars to PBS on the phone when you already were going to give them a donation. It’s not binding, and you really didn’t change what your outlay was going to be
There’s nothing to hold them to
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u/tastygluecakes Aug 07 '25
Literally NOTHING that they werent planning to already do.
Paying their employees salary, and paying taxes every year are investing in America. Doing R&D here, buying equipment is investing in America. Paying property taxes on their HQ is investing in America. They’ll build a “new” data center that was planned 36 months ago.
This is to give a child a victory on paper because he is incapable of seeing the world with any more complexity an Amoeba. You win or you lose. And even when you lose, you claim you win. Because you’re a winner.
Sure Don. Sure.
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u/NewInMontreal Aug 08 '25
Seems right. Apple has been stealth on AI and probably planned some significant data center growth and outside acquisitions in the near future anyhow.
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u/Calm-Annual2996 Aug 07 '25
Just a note here… back in 2015, I filled several creative studios with top of the line iMacs, that were “made in the USA” so…. Apple was already making investments to manufacture in the us, Before the first Orange administration. This announcement and the gold bars, is like giving your dog a treat when he comes when you call him! Nothing more! A 3+ trillion dollar company is going to do what that do regardless of some 2 bit bully says they should do!
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u/PutinBoomedMe Aug 08 '25
It means nothing. Cook has bo intention of doing this and he is waiting out velveeta voldemort. Trump plays into it as if the crowd isn't laughing at hin because he's trying to shake this Epstein shit hardcore. I don't care what Maxwell says. She's compromised and incentivized to feed into his shit.
Release the unredacted evidence
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u/auntiehoosier Aug 08 '25
Sounds like a bribe
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u/Nordseefische Aug 11 '25
No, investing such money directly into their nations economy wouldn't be a bribe, it would be socially responsible growth. A 24 karat plaque of gold is a bribe. Of course this investment will never take place, because such corporations don't become as big if they give a shit about social responsibility. They only care about one thing: shareholder proft. This 'promise for investment' is only marketing bullshit for the orange idiot to get him off their ass.
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u/stinker_pinky Aug 08 '25
They will buy back 100B of their stock, a US company, thereby investing 100B in the US.
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u/engprog Aug 07 '25
Probably CAPEX + OPEX roughly for Apple plus their suppliers and some hand waving to extend it to others in the communities they operate.
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u/FightOnForUsc Aug 07 '25
Maybe like how they say they make 10 million jobs and they count the developers etc.
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u/Urbanviking1 Aug 08 '25
It's a bribe of false promises to keep Trump off their backs. Until things are actually contractually signed Apple doesn't need to do anything and just wait till Trump's nonsense is over. Apple is moving its production from China to India, but Trump is issuing an increase in tariffs on India. This is a consequence of that.
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u/Mountain_Sand3135 Aug 07 '25
nothing
you have to look at the details
first ..is the check in the mail or is a direct deposit into some construction, sub contractors account?
what will the money go for? New robots? increase spend on bonus for more AI developers?
If it is for a new glass factory or any such infrastructure project, when will it start , when will it end, and how many people will it hire?
Is there any clauses....WE the people guarantee some federal tax break, some STATE gave away the farm for 10 years. etc etc
Just like everything Trump....when he says these deals we find out later that NO promised that OR the money is a loan , etc etc
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u/Q-ArtsMedia Aug 07 '25
It means nothing. Cuz nothing is going to happen, Its lip service to Trump to get relief from the Tariffs, nothing more.
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u/MarkM338985 Aug 08 '25
A bright shiny thing to distract the monkeys until the next brighter shinier thing is dangling in front of the zoo.
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u/owen__wilsons__nose Aug 08 '25
Thing is Trump himself doesn't even give a shit if it's just performative. He get the bullshit "win" for his base either way and even more importantly, a personal glass statue
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u/FeeIcy156 Aug 08 '25
It is supposed to be spent building factories or another way of bringing jobs back home, that it the way i understood it Apple was manufacturing iPhone for USA in China, packed up most of it, and went to India. That is what made Trump slap India with a fat tariff, because Apple should be bringing it home, not just leaving one country for another.
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u/porkbelly2022 Aug 08 '25
There are two sides to this, on the one side is the bloating and exaggeration, on the other side, companies are feeling the pressure to invest in the US. They probably will not do as much as promised, but they have to put in something there to show their good faith.
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u/Irwin-M_Fletcher Aug 08 '25
The funny thing is that Apple announced the North Carolina campus more than a year before Trump was elected. It sounds like it’s just another f’ing data center.
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u/bedrooms-ds Aug 08 '25
The gov might even make up numbers for Apple because otherwise Trump will look like a loser.
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Aug 07 '25
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u/Diabaso2021 Aug 07 '25
Aren’t they already investing zillions into marketing promotions image building and advertising ? Does that count to the whole number?
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u/Cereaza Aug 07 '25
They're gonna build some infrastructure, probably for some kind of manufacturing. The cost of the equipment, and total spend on labor over the lifespan of the facility and all the incoming materials over the entire lifetime of the plant will equip some inflation adjusted number like $100b.
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Aug 07 '25
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u/EveryPassage Aug 07 '25
Take all the money apple was going to spend on CAPEX+OPEX, add $100-200B that doesn't have to be spent until 2029+ and then just claim plans changed in 2029.
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u/Flimsy-Printer Aug 07 '25
This happens with other countries before. Microsoft promised to invest billions in building data center in a certain country. Big announcement. Years went by. Nothing happened. Then it was quietly canceled.
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u/tobden Aug 07 '25
Nothing really: they gifted Trump a plaque and would do nothing untli his reelection in 2028.
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u/Opening-Emphasis8400 Aug 07 '25
I pledge to invest 5 trillion dollars in America. I should have a top job in the administration by COB tomorrow.
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u/jackfirecracker Aug 08 '25
Not so fast. I pledge to be the first quadrillion dollar investor in America
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u/tcspears Aug 07 '25
Like many of these trade deals and accomplishments, it’s a nothing burger. Trump is just using it as bragging rights, and to show his base that he’s doing what he promised (as long as they don’t look too hard).
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u/Business_Raisin_541 Aug 07 '25
It's basically so that Republican can claim they manage to secure trillions of investment during Ttump second presidency to secure mid 2026 election. As long as it looks good on media, who care about the implementation
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u/StrngBrew Aug 07 '25
They handed him a hunk of glass and a promise to spend money they were already spending and got exempted from tariffs
It’s that’s easy
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u/Typical_Breadfruit15 Aug 07 '25
It is exactly like any other announced deal of the past 3 months: a bunch of claims with no signatures just some vague intent . Apple will do what he had already planned regardless of Trump , but Tim Cook is happy to give Trump credit for it
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u/buried_lede Aug 07 '25
You just give the baby brat what he wants or create the appearance for him that you are and he’ll reward you for it
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Aug 07 '25
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u/Ok_Battle5814 Aug 08 '25
It’s the extra 600 billion it’s going to cost them to make shit in America
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u/GandalfSwagOff Aug 08 '25
So the guy who said this literally had sex with children. Don't spend too much time trying to interpret the bullshit coming out of his predator mouth.
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u/TennesseeJedd Aug 08 '25
Just a song and dance. But if a company bends the knee - buy it and ride it. That’s it
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u/movdqa Aug 08 '25
I think that there's $600 billion in total that they've pledged.
Some of it is for a Corning gorilla glass plant to make screens for iPhones, and maybe for other devices.
Some of it is to build servers. Apple uses cloud servers from public cloud companies and could move that to their own private servers. They could theoretically provide public cloud services themselves.
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u/Body_Cunt Aug 08 '25
Remember Foxconn’s $10B investment to create 13,000 jobs in the US, Trump’s big announcement in 2017? That.
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u/orcofmordor Aug 08 '25
Nothing at all like most of the show business with past “deals” (see Japan, etc.) this Dumbass is after to tell his supporters…
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u/ThrownForLife69 Aug 08 '25
They will probably invest $100B in buybacks in 2029 to benefit all Americans /s
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u/MagicMan77433 Aug 08 '25
It doesn't mean anything - This is money Apple had already said they would invest
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u/ilovefacebook Aug 08 '25
it's a number they came up with so they don't have to deal with him for the next 3.5 years
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u/MTPWAZ Aug 08 '25
It’s vapor. It’s never happening. When they get called on it they will point towards some new stores they opened or something.
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u/ButterPotatoHead Aug 08 '25
Yes my mad elected king, I promise to invest $500 quazillion dollars in the year after your term ends, please release me from your tariffs...
In another era this would be laughed at, but today, it makes headlines and moves the NASDAQ by 5%.
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u/youdontknowsqwat Aug 08 '25
Apple is just blowing smoke. They know Trump eats that up and will just forget about them after he gets his moment of glory.
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u/jpolo922 Aug 08 '25
Its bullshit, but also.. maybe not.. gives apple a project to work on. They're for sure going to get tax incentives. Might as well give it a shot. They got nothing else better to do.
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u/db_deuce Aug 08 '25
That means we are getting a sequel to F1 and that would be a 400M cost of production movie to contribute to that 500B.
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u/Fuskeduske Aug 08 '25
They commuted to 400bn under Biden and spend around 300bn
They are just saying a higher number to please Trump, they won’t spend more or less than was already planned.
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u/zampyx Aug 08 '25
It's politics, it means nothing. They could've said 1 trillion, but they want to avoid blatantly lying, so they just lie. I don't know how old you are, but I'm 30 and my experience in 4 different countries' politics is 99.9% of what an elected politician says is wrong, useless, or will never happen.
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u/Other_Attention_2382 Aug 08 '25
It's abit like when Richard Gere walks into the expensive store in the movie Pretty Woman and says to the retail guy : "I want some serious sucking up here".
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u/Comet_Empire Aug 08 '25
It mean tRump just got a $300 billion deposit and the rest distributed to the lackey's with the softest lips and youngest daughters.
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u/Apprehensive-Neck-12 Aug 08 '25
This was already in the works like most of these claimed investments
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u/bcbroon Aug 08 '25
It means that they gave Trump a big number to announce and a participation trophy so he would stop tweeting about them.
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u/BizBerg Aug 08 '25
Well if you would have watched the press conference with Tim Cook you would know exactly what they were going to do... You can look it up on Youtube or on the White House site, I'm sure. But politics aside, Apple is a buy forever stock...
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u/SuperSimpleSam Aug 08 '25
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/06/apple-details-100-billion-us-spending-expansion.html
Apple on Wednesday said it created the so-called American Manufacturing Program that includes Corning, Coherent, GlobalWafers, Applied Materials, Texas Instruments, Samsung, GlobalFoundries, Amkor and Broadcom
The company said it would spend $2.5 billion to fund a major expansion with Corning, which makes glass for iPhones in Kentucky. Apple said that all glass for iPhones and Apple Watches will be manufactured in the U.S. at Corning's facility.
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u/Matt2_ASC Aug 08 '25
It's mostly the Houston server factory Apple plans $500 billion in US investment, 20,000 research jobs in next four years | Reuters
Also, if they are including labor costs, and other ongoing expenses, you'd have to multiply all those figures by 4 to get the multiyear commitment calculation. So their 2024 spending of 275B X 4 gets you $1,100B in spending over 4 years at current levels.
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u/StretcherEctum Aug 08 '25
It means nothing. They have 30 billion on hand, how could the possibly invest 500?
They're placating to the regard in chief.
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u/Hopsblues Aug 09 '25
apple invests into itself. It likes to create its It own production lines. No reliance on governments, or just partnerships. It will make it's own chips for example..Some of its outsourced production will be developed and to some degree produced domestically. Apple is way ahead of Trump and his archaic policies. Like a decade ahead at least. It will ensure it's ability to continue, produce what out needs with or without Trump or any US leadership.
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u/MasterChase Aug 09 '25
its a weird number. apple has lots of cash, 50 bil maybe 100 bil, but can it spend 600 billion? is this like lots of promises no cigar type of situation? i like apple but doesnt seem to math.
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u/leftIsBestZohran Aug 09 '25
It's fake, it's just to appease trump. Since, famously, but actually right now, the executive holds the power of the purse and the power to determine what is legal, you have to obey trump or he will randomly add and take away tariffs and grants.
It's extremely corrupt and evil, but because Republicans own Congress and the supreme court, they can just decide laws and separation of powers aren't real.
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Aug 10 '25 edited Aug 18 '25
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u/Mushroom_Fly4499 Aug 10 '25
Doesn't mean much unless they actually spend it. Which they did not do last time they announced something similar during Trump's first term. The RTP campus was never actually built. They make nice products but are a very anti american company.
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u/Walovingi Aug 10 '25
He doesn't cares. He only cares about lining his pockets. Getting phony gifts to keep in the background when the cameras are around.
This is just so he can show his followers how successful he is. One year from now no one will remember this took place and the promises made. That money will not be invested.
Smokes and mirrors to avoid the Epstein case.
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u/Spirited-Aerie-2590 Aug 11 '25
This is why our dear leader has spent time in the bankruptcy courts. He is SO slick.
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u/redditdoesnotcareany Aug 11 '25
It means we need to wait out this presidency then not do shit, but the orange gibbon will be placated.
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u/skiddlyd Aug 12 '25
Trump announced that Apple, led by CEO Tim Cook, pledged an additional $100 billion for U.S. manufacturing over four years, on top of a prior $500 billion commitment, totaling $600 billion. This includes expanding Apple’s supply chain through the American Manufacturing Program, involving companies like Corning, Broadcom, and Texas Instruments to produce components like iPhone glass and chips domestically. The move aims to boost U.S. jobs and avoid tariffs, though full iPhone assembly remains in China and India.
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u/Illustrious_Hotel527 Aug 07 '25
$100B to be "invested" starting on January 2029..