Dubai developer DAMAC Properties will invest at least $20 billion “over a very short period of time” in the U.S., primarily in data centers in the middle of the country, President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday, as the company’s billionaire founder and CEO, Hussain Sajwani, stood nearby.
Speaking to reporters at Trump’s Florida Mar-a-Lago estate, Trump and Sajwani said Trump’s victory in November influenced the company’s decision to make the investment.
“He’s doing it because of the fact that he was very inspired by the election,” Trump said.
Evan Vucci / AP
DAMAC Properties, primarily a real estate developer, plans to invest in new data centers across Texas, Arizona, Oklahoma, Ohio, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan and Indiana. The data centers will support artificial intelligence and cloud services.
“It was amazing news for me and my family when he was elected in November,” Sajwani said. “We’ve been waiting for four years to increase our investment in the U.S. to a very large amount of money.”
The president-elect said the company may even “double” that $20 billion investment, but Sajwani said his company will start with the $20 billion.
DAMAC’s former chairman and current board member Farooq Arjomand has been linked to the effort to pay $600,000 to former FBI informant Alexander Smirnov, who has been convicted of lying to the FBI about Hunter Biden’s dealings with Burisma.
Trump has pledged that for companies investing $1 billion or more in the U.S., his administration will expedite environmental permits and other processes.
“We’re going to be helping you and everybody else that comes to the United States and wants to invest their money, that you don’t get tied up for the rest of your life and you can’t do anything,” Trump said Tuesday.
Sajwani is the latest foreign investor to announce intentions to make investments in the U.S. since Trump’s win. Last month, Trump announced Japanese tech conglomerate SoftBank plans to invest $100 billion in the U.S. and create 100,000 jobs in artificial intelligence and technology. Trump also made that announcement at Mar-a-Lago, alongside SoftBank’s CEO.
contributed to this report.
