With Trump in the U.K. for a state visit, U.S. companies are rolling out billions of dollars’ worth of deals tied to the occasion.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who has been leading some of the administration’s negotiations on tariffs, TikTok and other issues, is already in London and will join Trump during some of the events.
The wave of deals could be a boon for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who got among the best tariff deals in the world from Trump and who has been trying to revive a flat-lining economy. In the last quarter, the British economy posted no growth at all, and on a rolling three-month basis the world’s sixth-largest economy grew only 0.2%.
On Sunday, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves and Jonathan Reynolds, parliamentary secretary to the Treasury, announced a number of investment deals involving American companies such as PayPal, Bank of America, Citigroup, S&P Global and BlackRock.
Citigroup is spending $1.5 billion to renovate its massive Canary Wharf office tower in London. While construction has been underway for years, the investment is an increase from what Citi previously committed. Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser is expected to join Trump during the next two days.
Bank of America is set to create 1,000 jobs in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and BlackRock is opening a new office in Edinburgh, Scotland. S&P Global is also investing a small amount in its Manchester office in the north of England.
Meanwhile, tech giants are pouring tens of billions into AI development in the U.K.
Microsoft said yesterday that it would invest $30 billion in data center infrastructure through 2028. The company said this would include “the country’s largest supercomputer — with more than 23,000 advanced GPUs.”
Alphabet also said yesterday that it would spend almost $7 billion as it opens a new data center just outside London as part of a two-year investment deal.
Nvidia and OpenAI are also set to unveil U.K. investment plans in the coming days. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is expected to be part of an event this week with the president.
