By Robbie Whelan, Eliot Brown, and Josh Dawsey | Wall Street Journal
The billionaire tech investor Masayoshi Son has big dreams of working closely with the Trump administration to revitalize U.S. manufacturing—and the promise of billions in Japanese cash to help pay for it.
After months of discussions with officials at the White House and Commerce Department, the chief executive officer of Tokyo-based SoftBank Group 9984 5.96%increase; green up pointing triangle is hammering out details of a plan that could see him marshaling hundreds of billions of dollars to build Trump-branded industrial parks around the country.
The facilities would be built largely on federal land, using funds pledged by the Japanese government as part of a recent trade deal, and would produce components for artificial-intelligence infrastructure, according to people familiar with the discussions. The funds could begin flowing as soon as early 2026.
