:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/53875347/Trump_flag.0.jpg)
President Donald Trump took credit on Friday after Charter Communications pledged to invest $25 billion in the United States and hire 20,000 workers over the next four years — even though the telecom giant already made similar pledges before Trump took office.
Flanked by the chief executive of Charter Communications, Tom Rutledge, Trump praised the company for hiring more American workers, specifically citing it as another example of a company focusing on the U.S. economy “following my election victory.”
Some of Charter’s announcements, though, aren’t new. As it sought the government’s approval to buy Time Warner Cable last year, Charter Communications had said it planned to hire 20,000 employees.
Charter further noted Friday that it planned to relocate all of its call center jobs back to the United States. But that process also began after its Time Warner merger: It announced in October, for example, its plans to expand in Texas, including 200 new jobs for a call center in San Antonio.
It’s hardly the first time a company has sought an audience with Trump and attributed its prior investment plans to his presidency. The chief example is SoftBank, whose leader, Masayoshi Son, paid a visit to Trump Tower then pledged to invest $50 billion in the United States. But SoftBank began eyeing such an investment fund well before Trump won the White House.
In giving Trump credit, however, Son sought to win the new administration’s good graces — a perk that could help SoftBank if it seeks to merge Sprint, which it owns, with T-Mobile, which Son has coveted for years.
Charter’s motivations, though, might be different. Verizon reportedly is in talks to purchase the company, which would require approval by the Trump administration. And Rutledge himself, speaking after Trump on Friday, specifically noted the company’s interest in upcoming tax and infrastructure reforms.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
