Will Trump Make America Great Again with Chinese Money?
US President Donald Trump has unveiled a plan to invest $1.5 trillion in infrastructure. He is said to be serious about making America great again, but the question is where the businessman-turned-president will get the money.
US President Donald Trump. Photo: Reuters
China's CGTN news network recently published an analysis by Dr. John Gong of the China University of International Business and Economics. This expert believes that with the success of the recent tax cut law, President Trump shows a serious desire to make America strong again by modernizing its infrastructure.
"We will build roads and bridges and highways and railways all across our land. And we will do it with American heart and American hands and American tenacity," Mr. Trump said in his State of the Union address in late January.
What President Trump doesn’t mention is that he’ll do it with American money. The total US debt is now at $70 trillion, or $0.83 million per household. Meanwhile, the recent budget deal between Democrats and Republicans will add $11 trillion to the US debt over the next 10 years.
So, where will the Trump administration get the money to modernize the infrastructure, to make America great again? Expert John Gong believes that, as a famous real estate investor, Mr. Trump will certainly have his own strategies.
Under President Trump’s plan, he would spend just $200 billion in federal grants to supplement the rest of the $1.5 trillion in investments from states, localities and private companies with public sector sponsors. Grants would be capped at 20% of the total cost of a project.
It is not clear where the $200 billion will come from, but Mr. Trump has said he will freeze funds from budget cuts in other areas.
Chinese banks are said to have large cash reserves, Chinese investors can take advantage of the opportunity to invest in US infrastructure projects. Photo: VCG
According to Dr. Gong, in this case, the US can completely rely on major Chinese banks with USD cash reserves and highly liquid USD assets totaling 3 trillion USD. Chinese investors can take advantage of this source of money to invest and profit from the infrastructure boom in the US. This expert believes that this could be a mutually beneficial cooperation for the US and China.
