President Trump held an event on Monday at the White House where he announced a $5.8 billion investment in Louisiana.
Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:
https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript
Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com
Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:
https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript
Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:01Please be seated.
00:02Please be seated.
00:03Hello, everybody.
00:04Good to see you all.
00:05Great to see you again.
00:06Nice to see you.
00:07Mr. President.
00:08Mr. President.
00:09Nice to see you.
00:10Hello.
00:11Hello.
00:12Another big wind from Brazil.
00:13Hello, great speaker.
00:14Good to see you.
00:16Hello.
00:17Mr. President.
00:18Nice to see you.
00:20Mr. President.
00:21Hello, everybody.
00:22Good to see you.
00:25Okay, we have a beautiful announcement to make.
00:35It's very exciting.
00:37Money is pouring in, and we want to keep it that way.
00:42And I think that's what's going to happen.
00:44We have tremendous interest in our country, more than ever before.
00:49There's never been anything like it.
00:51We're almost at a $4 trillion level, and that's something that's never happened.
00:58And I think, hopefully, it's because of the election on November 5th, but it's also because
01:01of tariffs, I suspect, Governor.
01:05But I'm thrilled to welcome Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, a friend of mine for a long time,
01:12and to have you at the White House.
01:14We thought this was going to happen, and I said, if you get it signed up, we'll do it
01:18at the White House.
01:19And you got it all done.
01:20I'm proud of you.
01:22Not surprised.
01:23Executive Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, Jung E. Sun.
01:27Thank you very much.
01:28What a great honor.
01:30Vice Chairman, Jay Chang.
01:32Jay, thank you.
01:34Hyundai Steel President, Soo Gang Hyun.
01:39Thank you very much.
01:40President, that's big stuff.
01:42And former Ambassador, Sung Kim.
01:45Thank you very much.
01:46Great honor to have all of you.
01:47Also, and these names are much less difficult for me, but I think we got them right.
01:54But this one, we will definitely get right.
01:56Mike Johnson, our great speaker, and he's been doing a real job.
02:00Right, Mike?
02:01It's an easy job, isn't it?
02:04House Majority Leader, Steve Scalise.
02:08Steve, you're doing all right, Steve, I'll tell you.
02:12You went through a lot, and he's stronger than ever.
02:16Senate Speaker, Philip Duvalier.
02:19Thank you very much.
02:20Thank you very much.
02:23Senate President, Cameron Henry.
02:26State Representative, Ken Brass.
02:28State Senator, Annie Lambert.
02:31And Ascension Parish President, Clint Quintment.
02:36Thank you all very much.
02:37Thank you very much.
02:38Great honor.
02:39Great to have you with us.
02:41Today we're delighted to report that Hyundai is announcing a major $5.8 billion investment
02:46in American manufacturing.
02:49In particular, Hyundai will be building a brand new steel plant in Louisiana, which
02:53will produce more than 2.7 million metric tons of steel a year, creating more than 1,400
02:59jobs for American steelworkers.
03:02And then there'll be major expansion after that.
03:05This will be Hyundai's first-ever steel mill in the United States.
03:08One of the largest companies in the world, by the way, supplying steel for its auto parts
03:13and auto plants in Alabama and Georgia, which will soon produce more than 1 million American-made
03:19cars every single year.
03:21The cars are coming into this country at levels never seen before.
03:26Get ready.
03:28This investment is a clear demonstration that tariffs very strongly work.
03:32And I hope other things also, but the tariffs are bringing them in at levels that have not
03:40been witnessed.
03:43Hyundai will be producing steel in America and making its cars in America.
03:47And as a result, they'll not have to pay any tariffs.
03:51You know, there are no tariffs if you make your product in America.
03:54So it's something that's why so many people are coming.
03:58As you know, we have from Taiwan, the biggest chip manufacturer in the world is coming in
04:03with $200 billion.
04:06And we have a lot of people coming and plants coming and companies coming that never would
04:11have been here, never would have even thought about it.
04:14The new steel plant in Louisiana is part of an even larger $21 billion investment Hyundai
04:19will be making in the United States over the next couple of years.
04:23The company will also be massively increasing its auto manufacturing in Georgia and investing
04:28billions of dollars in advanced American technology companies.
04:33And what I'd like to do is I'd like to ask the executive chairman to say a few words.
04:38And it's a great honor to have Hyundai, a truly great company.
04:41Thank you very much.
04:49Thank you very much, Mr. President.
04:52Thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak here today.
04:56And thank you for the invitation.
04:59And congratulations on the remarkable start to your new term.
05:04It's been good.
05:08So Hyundai Motor entered the U.S. in 1986.
05:13Since then, we have invested over $20 billion and now support more than 570,000 American
05:21jobs across all 15 states.
05:24Today I'm pleased to announce an additional $21 billion in a new investment over the next
05:31four years.
05:33Our largest U.S. invest ever.
05:36A key part of this commitment is our $6 billion investment to strengthen the U.S. supply chain
05:44from steel and parts to automobiles.
05:48We are especially excited about Hyundai Steel's multi-billion investment in a new facility
05:55in Louisiana, which will create 1,300 American jobs and serve as the foundation for a more
06:03self-reliant and secure automotive supply chain in the U.S.
06:08To mark this milestone, we are honored to visit President Trump alongside Governor Landry
06:18and Speaker Johnson and Leader Scalise, deepening our partnership with the United States and
06:28reinforcing our shared vision for American industrial leadership.
06:34And this week, we are also proud to open our new $8 billion auto plant in Georgia.
06:42With this, our U.S. vehicle production will exceed 1 million units per year, as President
06:48mentioned.
06:50Our decision to invest in Savannah, Georgia, creating more than 8,500 American jobs, was
06:57initiated during my meeting with President Trump in Seoul in 2019.
07:06And after that, 2020 in Davos, I mentioned about the new plant.
07:11So American jobs was initiated at that time.
07:16Now, as we proudly mark the completion of this transformative project, it coincides
07:27with the beginning of President Trump's second term, making this moment even more special.
07:36Furthermore, HMG will purchase $3 billion worth of U.S. LNG to support America's energy
07:45industry and enhance our energy security.
07:50All of these efforts will accelerate the localization of our supply chain in the U.S., expand our
07:57operations, and grow our American workforce.
08:01With your leadership, Mr. President, Hyundai Motor Group is proud to be a stronger partner
08:07in America's industrial future.
08:10I'd like to personally invite you to visit one of our state-of-the-art manufacturing
08:16facilities and see firsthand our commitment to the United States and our American workers.
08:25So thank you to our American partners and employees and communities.
08:31We are really proud to stand with you and proud to build the future together.
08:39Thank you, President.
08:40I thought maybe we have our great speaker, and we have two very good friends, Mike and
08:49Steve.
08:50And you come from a certain state that we're talking about right now that we love.
08:54And I've done very well there.
08:55I've always won by a lot.
08:57I love that state.
08:58So I was happy to hear about it.
09:00That's why I said, come on over.
09:01But Mike, would you and Steve like to say a few words, please?
09:04Sure.
09:05Sure.
09:06Thank you, Mr. President.
09:07We're excited.
09:08It was mentioned earlier, what a great start we've had to your second term.
09:11And we're just getting started.
09:13Everyone should know that.
09:14There'll be more of this because it's the policies that are bringing about the great
09:17growth, and it's about leadership.
09:19And we have a strong new leader back in the White House, and it makes a big difference
09:23because everybody around the world is seeing that, and everyone around the country is applauding
09:27it.
09:28We had a great work period last week, and Steve Scalise and I and our colleagues were
09:31traveling around the country doing campaign events, raising money, doing all the things
09:35that are necessary to ensure that we keep the House majority for the Republican Party.
09:39And I'll just tell you, I was in multiple states over the last week, and everywhere
09:43I went, Mr. President, people are excited.
09:45There's this great sense of relief, almost euphoria out there, because they know that
09:50America's back.
09:51This is the America First agenda.
09:53We're so grateful for these great friends with Hyundai to invest in Louisiana.
09:56We have extraordinary leadership on the state level, and leadership makes a big difference.
10:01We're so grateful to be a part of this.
10:02We want to tell you all, this is a great investment in Louisiana and in America.
10:06More to come.
10:07Thank you so much.
10:08Steve?
10:09Well, thank you again, Mr. President, for opening up the White House to this great group.
10:16Governor Landry has brought the same kind of energy to the governor's mansion in Louisiana
10:21that President Trump has brought to the nation in the White House.
10:25Some people marvel at President Trump's stamina.
10:29Over the weekend, both Saturday and Sunday, we spoke by phone on some different legislative
10:33initiatives that we're working on with Speaker Johnson to continue moving the agenda forward.
10:39Those very things that President Trump ran on, he's delivering for the American people.
10:43And this announcement by Hyundai is one more example of how that agenda that President
10:48Trump ran on to make America first again is working for the American people.
10:53When you talk about 1,300 plus really good jobs in Louisiana, those are all American
11:00workers.
11:01That's billions of investment coming in from Hyundai into the United States that would
11:05not have been here without President Trump's leadership.
11:07And I think people know that.
11:08They see it.
11:09It's been a long time coming, but we applaud the work that Hyundai is doing with Governor
11:14Landry to come to our state.
11:16But for President Trump, we're seeing this all across the nation, and we're just getting
11:21started.
11:22A lot more to come, Mr. President.
11:25Thank you very much.
11:26Do you have any questions, please?
11:29Yeah, please.
11:30The size of the investment, partly because of tariffs.
11:34On April 2nd, the reciprocal tariffs will go into effect.
11:37Is it truly reciprocal?
11:38Are there some countries that might get a break or some sectors that might get a break?
11:42Well, I may give a lot of countries breaks, but it's reciprocal.
11:46But we might be even nicer than that.
11:49You know, we've been very nice to a lot of countries for a long time.
11:52But I call it Liberation Day.
11:54April 2nd is Liberation Day.
11:57But today, as you know, we did something with respect to Venezuela.
12:00You heard about that.
12:01And that will be quite important.
12:04We'll be announcing some additional tariffs over the next few days, having to do with
12:09automobiles, cars, and having also to do a little bit with lumber down the road, lumber
12:15and chips.
12:16We're going to get all those chip companies coming back.
12:19They were already coming back without even doing it.
12:22So it's been very good.
12:24But we'll be announcing some others.
12:25But for the most part, April 2nd will be a big day.
12:28That'll be reciprocal day.
12:30And we'll be bringing some of the money back that's been taken from us.
12:34Let's be nice by using the word taken.
12:37I don't want to use a stronger word because these guys are professional politicians, and
12:40they don't like to hear those words.
12:43I refuse to use the word stolen from us.
12:45But that's...
12:46Some countries mutually bring down tariffs.
12:48Are you seeing that?
12:49Oh, it happened.
12:50Well, the European Union lowered their tariffs to two and a half percent.
12:54We were only at two and a half percent for cars, which is very low.
12:58And as you probably heard that European Union lowered their number from much higher than
13:03that.
13:04Many, many times are surprised to two and a half percent.
13:07So that was good.
13:08But I don't I don't know that I expect that.
13:12It's up to them.
13:13But we have reciprocal tariffs.
13:14Mr. President, you're reacting to the story of the Atlantic that said that some of your
13:19top cabinet officials and aides have been discussing very sensitive material through
13:25Signal and included an Atlantic reporter for that.
13:28What is your response to that?
13:29I don't know anything about it.
13:31I'm not a big fan of the Atlantic.
13:32To me, it's a magazine that's going out of business.
13:34I think it's not much of a magazine, but I know nothing about it.
13:38You're saying that they had what they were using Signal to coordinate on sensitive materials
13:44and having to do with what having to do with what?
13:48What were they talking about?
13:49With the Houthis.
13:50The Houthis.
13:51You mean the attack on the Houthis?
13:52Yes.
13:53Well, it couldn't have been very effective because the attack was very effective.
13:56I can tell you that.
13:57I don't know anything about it.
13:59You're telling me about it for the first time.
14:01And he announced that on Monday, this announcement on Monday.
14:05Is this a blueprint for you, for other automakers to come to the United States to do what Hyundai
14:12was doing and investing so much in Louisiana and creating these new jobs?
14:17Absolutely.
14:18It's a nice.
14:19That's a nice question from you.
14:21That's a shocking question.
14:22How nice it is.
14:23That's OK.
14:24That's a question.
14:25That's a good question, actually.
14:27Yeah, sure.
14:28Hyundai is a great company.
14:31We have other great companies coming in and we have some that are going to be staying
14:34here and very much expanding.
14:37And we have a tremendous interest in every business.
14:39I can't just say automobiles, but automobiles is a big one.
14:43And yeah, this is the beginning of a lot of things happening.
14:47We've had, as you know, Apple's announced a 500 billion dollar investment and other
14:53companies have announced 250, 300 billion.
14:57But we were well into the three and four trillion dollar mark, which has never happened to our
15:02country before.
15:03What it really means is jobs.
15:05All we care about is jobs.
15:07Right.
15:08We care about quality and quality of life and safety and security, but we care about
15:11jobs and they're going to have a lot.
15:13We have a lot of people coming in.
15:14I'm going to ask you a question.
15:21How did you convince Hyundai to come to your great state?
15:24How did you convince them to come to Louisiana?
15:27It was easy.
15:28I told him we were going to have a great president this year.
15:30Right.
15:31Look, again, I think that this is America and seeing the America first policy in action.
15:36Right.
15:37It's about business.
15:38It's about action.
15:39And not only did and I appreciate their patience, because all last year, many of these legislators
15:43are speaking to Senate president.
15:45We worked on making Louisiana as friendly for business as the president is making America.
15:51We worked on public safety.
15:52We worked on educational reform, which the president's been working on.
15:55We worked on tax reform, historic tax reform.
15:58And what I can tell you is to echo what the president said in Louisiana right now, I believe
16:02before the summer's over, we'll have 50 billion dollars worth of construction projects going
16:07on in Louisiana.
16:09That is a record, Mr. President.
16:10It has never happened under any other president on any other administration.
16:15And I can only look at the leadership that he has brought not only to the White House,
16:19but to the world as well.
16:20And so to have these executives come here and say, hey, we want to invest in America,
16:27because for decades now, what Americans have seen is jobs being offshore rather than onshore.
16:33And today's announcement is exactly that.
16:34This is a message for all America that this president and their governors out there care
16:39about the American worker.
16:40Mr. President, I have to tell you that if you have any trouble getting permits, which
16:46you won't, come see me.
16:48I'll get them for you.
16:49All right.
16:50But you're not going to have any trouble.
16:51You know, we had when I first got involved in this world of politics, when I went down
16:56to Louisiana, you know, the two big LNG plants and they were stuck for 14 years.
17:01They tried to get permits.
17:02And these were $12 billion and I think $15 billion plants.
17:07And they were working on it for 14 years in one case, I think 13 or 14 in the other.
17:12And I was able to get them in less than a week.
17:15And they were shocked.
17:16And probably some consultant got a lot of money for doing it.
17:19But nobody spoke to me about it other than this gentleman at the time.
17:22He mentioned it and he did.
17:24They were in very much different positions, but they wanted to see if we could break the
17:28logjam and I got it done.
17:30In one case, I actually got it done in one day.
17:33And the other case, I didn't do as well.
17:34It took a full week.
17:36And they built and they're up and they're very successful now.
17:38That was a long time ago, but we got it done immediately.
17:41You'll have no trouble getting your permits.
17:43I guarantee these people you're dealing with the top of the line.
17:46OK, but just in case, you announced earlier today that 25 percent for any country that
17:53does business.
17:54That's right.
17:55They buy their oil from Venezuela.
17:58They have to pay a 25 percent tariff to do business with the United States on top of
18:03existing tariffs.
18:04So, for example, China.
18:05Yes, that would be a top and it's existing 45 percent.
18:09That's on top of existing tariffs.
18:11Yes.
18:12And so also next week, April 2nd, as you said, Liberation Day, is that going to be sector
18:17tariffs as well as reciprocal tariffs?
18:19It's going to be everything.
18:20Yeah, it's going to be everything.
18:22But not all tariffs are included that day.
18:24For instance, we're doing some.
18:25As you know, we have already done steel and aluminum, and that's at a 25 percent level.
18:31And we are going to be doing automobiles, which you've known about for a long time.
18:35We'll be announcing that fairly soon over the next few days, probably.
18:39And then April 2nd comes, that'll be reciprocal tariffs.
18:43But we may take less than what they're charging because they've charged us so much.
18:47I don't think they could take it.
18:48In other words, they've charged us so much that I'm embarrassed to charge them what they've
18:53charged us.
18:54But it'll be substantial.
18:56And you'll be hearing about that on April 2nd.
18:59And it will be Liberation Day because we'll be taking in large amounts of money for our
19:03country.
19:04And that's lower taxes and all of the things that are good.
19:08And jobs, a lot of jobs.
19:09And what's your message for the big corporate clients of the big law firms that you've targeted
19:13with your executive orders?
19:14Do you want those big corporate clients to find new lawyers?
19:18I just think that the law firms have to behave themselves.
19:22And we've proven that.
19:23We have others that want to make a settlement also.
19:27Having to do with the election and other things, they behave very badly, very wrongly.
19:32And I appreciate the one, you know, these are the biggest firms.
19:36And they all came back realizing that they did wrong.
19:41And that's why they're doing this.
19:42So I just think they have to behave.
19:43We have to straighten out our country.
19:45We have to straighten out our elections.
19:47Our elections are very dishonest, very corrupt.
19:51And we have to straighten it out.
19:52And it's so easy to do it.
19:53And we should go to paper ballots.
19:55We should go to one-day voting.
19:56We should go to voter ID and just one other thing, proof of a thing called citizenship
20:02in the United States.
20:03Wouldn't that be nice?
20:04How simple does that sound?
20:07Proof of citizenship, voter ID, one-day voting and paper ballots.
20:11You know, paper ballots are very secure.
20:13They have watermark paper.
20:14It's very, actually, it's very intricate stuff.
20:16It's very technologically advanced, even though it's paper.
20:21And you'd have no trouble.
20:22You wouldn't have dishonest elections, and you'd have them all done by 10 o'clock in
20:27the evening.
20:28You know, France went to that.
20:29And not that I want to copy anybody, but many others have also.
20:33And they had 38 million votes, and it was all done at 10 o'clock.
20:37They had a winner.
20:38They had a loser.
20:39That was it.
20:40Nobody was complaining.
20:41And they had it backed up with paper.
20:43And it's so easy to do.
20:46The other thing, you'd save about — this would cost you about 8 percent of what the
20:53machines cost.
20:54So the paper would be much less expensive.
20:56So if you're looking to save some money, that's a good way to save it.
21:00So it's a shame that we've gone through it.
21:02We've gone through a bad election, a really bad election.
21:04The election was so bad.
21:06And think of it.
21:08You wouldn't have had the October 7th disaster with Israel.
21:13You wouldn't have had Russia and Ukraine, because that would have never happened.
21:17You wouldn't have had inflation.
21:18You wouldn't have had the type of withdrawal from Afghanistan that you witnessed, which
21:22was probably one of the primary reasons that Russia went into Ukraine.
21:26They saw that mess, how badly it was handled.
21:28They said, well, this is a paper tiger that was handled by incompetent people.
21:33But that wouldn't have — we would have been out, but we would have kept Bagram,
21:37the big airbase, which is one hour away from China, where they make their nuclear weapons.
21:41Would have been nice to have it.
21:42But now, you know who has it?
21:44Now China has it.
21:46And so, an honest election.
21:47And we wouldn't have had inflation.
21:49You know, you had the record-setting inflation.
21:51We wouldn't have had inflation.
21:52I want to thank everybody for being here.
21:54I want to congratulate Hyundai, a great company.
21:56And we will do everything possible.
21:59And I will say, you picked a fantastic state.
22:02You really — with tremendous people and tremendous leaders.
22:05And, Speaker, I want to thank you for doing a great job.
22:08You and Steve, thank you very much.
22:09Appreciate it, Steve.
22:10Thank you very much.
22:13Thank you, everybody.
22:15Thank you very much.
22:19If you get a briefing on that, would you let us know, please?