Trump announced a $4.2 billion Audi plant. A day later it was ‘a $40 billion plant’

Audi’s new Georgia plant grew tenfold overnight, which is impressive for a building that hasn’t been started. On Saturday in Perry, Georgia, Trump announced it himself: “Audi has just committed to invest $4.2 billion in nearby Macon, Georgia, to begin the construction next month on a massive plant that will produce 200,000 cars a year.”

On Sunday in Port Huron, Michigan, he told it again: “Last night... the chairman of Audi, big, beautiful car company, stood up and announced that next month they start construction on a $40 billion plant that will produce 200,000 cars a year right nearby.”

Audi’s own release says it “intends to invest around $4 billion,” with about 4,500 jobs, and that construction “is scheduled to begin in 2027.” Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s office puts grading in 2027 and construction in 2028. So that’s about a tenth of the money, and next month is at least a year off.

In fairness to the man, the zero didn’t come from nowhere. Right after the $4.2 billion line in Perry, he said “we’re totaling about 40 billion,” then mentioned “30,000 new jobs,” without saying what was being totaled. By Sunday the total had become the plant.