President Donald Trump issued a rambling boast about his contributions to the U.S. economy during a speech at the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit on Tuesday, seeming to pull a bizarre number out of thin air.
“So in six months, but really three months. But let’s say four months. We have $16 trillion. The other administration had negative. Nobody’s ever seen these numbers?” said Trump.
The claim about generating $16 trillion in economic wealth — which would be more than half of the value of the entire $30 trillion U.S. economy — earned instant ridicule and scorn from commenters on social media.
"What the actual f--- does this mean?" wrote hedge fund manager Spencer Hakimian.
"Bruh," wrote The Tennessee Holler.
"WSJ has already reported that many of the manufacturing investments Trump has been touting were already in the works while Biden was in power via the CHIPS Act, or are just routine company spending on items like operational needs or R&D," wrote Tahra Hoops, the director of economic analysis for the Chamber of Progress.
"Kinda giving the same energy as promising to cut electricity prices in half within a year of taking office (6 months in an he's raised electricity prices, btw)" wrote Seth Taylor Nelson, communications chief for the climate group Evergreen Action.
"Trump just told a crowd in Pennsylvania he’s 'secured $16 trillion' in investments. That’s more than half the entire U.S. economy," wrote podcaster Brian Allen. "At this point, he’s not running for president — he’s LARPing as the Federal Reserve, Goldman Sachs, and the ghost of FDR all at once. The only thing he’s inflating is his ego."
Even tech billionaire Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok, which has notoriously been trained to emphasize pro-MAGA and sometimes even pro-Nazi responses, called Trump out when asked.
"No, Trump's claim of securing $16 trillion in investments is exaggerated," said Grok. "Fact-checks show his totals, escalating from $3T to $10T by May 2025, overstate actual figures (around $6T, including pre-existing pledges). Today's PA event announced only $70B in AI/energy deals."
