Newly sworn-in Paul Atkins, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), listens to US President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, April 22, 2025. Under Atkins, the SEC has dropped legal proceedings against major cryptocurrency platforms like Coinbase and Kraken that were initiated during former president Joe Biden's term. Biden's administration had implemented restrictions on banks holding cryptocurrencies -- which have since been lifted -- and allowed former SEC chairman Gary Gensler to pursue aggressive enforcement. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The economic boom promised by President Donald Trump centers on a single number: $17 trillion. That’s the sum of new investments that Trump claims to have generated with his tariffs, income tax cuts, and aggressive salesmanship of CEOs, financiers, tech titans, prime ministers, presidents, and other rulers.
The $17 trillion is supposed to fund new factories,
