President Trump on Wednesday met with the CEO of Foxconn, the major manufacturer of Apple’s iPhones, as the company wavers on its pledge to build a large factory in Wisconsin.
“Yesterday afternoon, President Trump met with brilliant, business leader Terry Gou, creator of Foxconn one of the world’s largest companies,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement on Thursday.
“Mr. Gou is spending a lot of money in Wisconsin and soon will announce even more investment there. The President and Mr. Gou did not discuss support for his campaign in Taiwan, he is just a great friend,” Sanders added.{mosads}
Gou is running for president of Taiwan, and Bloomberg reported that the two had discussed his candidacy on Wednesday.
Gou also met with Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) on Thursday, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
In 2017, Foxconn announced plans to build a $10 billion plant in Wisconsin that would employ 13,000 people. The announcement was made in the White House alongside Trump and political leaders from Wisconsin, including then-Speaker Paul Ryan (R).
In exchange for the investment, Foxconn would receive more than $4 billion in incentives from taxpayers.
But Evers has said that the company wants to change its agreement with Wisconsin as it lags behind its planned investments in the state. According to reports, the company now plans to open a significantly smaller facility with jobs mainly for engineers instead of factory workers.
Updated at 3:53 p.m.