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WASHINGTON (AP) — Chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. plans to invest $100 billion in the United States, President Donald Trump said Monday, on top of $65 billion in investments the company had previously announced.

TSMC, the world’s biggest semiconductor manufacturer, produces chips for companies including Apple, Intel and Nvidia. The company had already begun constructing three plants in Arizona after the Biden administration offered billions in subsidies. Its first factory in Arizona has started mass production of its 4-nanometer chips.

Trump, who appeared with TSMC’s chief executive officer C. C. Wei at the White House, called it a “tremendous move” and “a matter of economic security.”

“Semiconductors are the backbone of the 21st century economy. And really, without the semiconductors, there is no economy,” the president said. “Powering everything from AI to automobiles to advanced manufacturing, we must be able to build the chips and semiconductors that we need right here in American factories with Americans skill and American labor.”

Wei said the investment will be for three more chip manufacturing plants, along with two packaging facilities, in Arizona.

The $165 billion investment “is going to create thousands of high-paying jobs,” Wei said.

Former President Joe Biden in 2022 signed a sweeping $280 billion law, the CHIPS and Science Act, to try to reinvigorate chip manufacturing in the U.S., especially after the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the pandemic, chip factories, especially those overseas making the majority of processors, shut down. It had a ripple effect that led to wider problems, such as automobile factory assembly lines shutting down and fueled inflation.

Trump has criticized the law and taken a different approach, instead threatening to impose high tariffs on imported chips to bring chip manufacturing back to the U.S.

Trump also has said companies like TSMC do not need federal tax incentives.

At the Commerce Department, 40 people who worked on the implementation of the Chips Act were fired Monday as part of the Trump administration’s sweeping moves to cut the size of the federal workforce, according to a person familiar with the move who was not authorized to speak publicly.

When asked if the new investment could minimize impact on the U.S. should China either isolate or seize Taiwan, Trump said he couldn’t say “minimize” because “that would be a catastrophic event obviously.”

Taiwan is an island that broke away from mainland China in 1949 following a civil war. Beijing claims sovereignty over the island and has ratcheted up military and diplomatic pressure on its leaders.

“It will at least give us a position where we have, in this very, very important business, we would have a very big part of it in the United States,” Trump said of the chip manufacturing.

He did not say if the investment would provide security for the self-governed island that Beijing considers to be part of Chinese territory.

Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office, the island’s de-facto embassy in the United States, said investments by Taiwanese businesses in the U.S. have exceeded 40% of the island’s total foreign investments and that the Taiwanese government is “glad” to see Taiwanese businesses to expand investments in the U.S. and to deep cooperation on supply chain between the two sides.

“It also brings the economic and trade relations closer,” the office said.

Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the Indo-Pacific program at German Marshall Fund of the U.S., said Taipei is hoping the increased investment pledge will help keep the U.S.-Taiwan relationship strong. “Taiwan is evidently stepping up in a way that supports and advanced President Trump’s priorities,” she said. “The US will benefit greatly from TSMC’s investment.”

Trump has yet to indicate his stance on U.S. support for Taiwan’s security since he took office, and he has said Taiwan should pay the U.S. for its military defense.

Trump has hosted multiple business leaders at the White House since he took office in January to tout a series of investments that aim to demonstrate his leadership is a boon for the U.S. economy. He’s also pointed to the tariff threats as prodding the investments.

“It’s the incentive we’ve created. Or the negative incentive,” Trump said.

In January, he appeared with the heads of OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank at the White House as they announced plans for a new partnership to invest up to $500 billion for infrastructure tied to artificial intelligence. He also announced in January a $20 billion investment by DAMAC Properties in the United Arab Emirates to build data centers tied to AI.

Last week, after Apple CEO Tim Cook met with Trump at the White House, the company announced plans to invest more than $500 billion in the U.S. over the next four years, including plans for a new server factory in Texas. Trump said after their meeting that Cook promised him Apple’s manufacturing would shift from Mexico to the U.S.

“I don’t have time to do all of these announcements,” Trump joked Monday as he listed some of the other investments.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the planned announcement Monday.

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Associated Press writers Josh Boak and Chris Megerian contributed to this report. Price reported from New York.

Last-minute problems forced a launch delay Monday for SpaceX’s mega rocket Starship, attempting a comeback following an explosion on the last test flight.

The countdown got down to the 40-second mark, but it was halted because of issues with the 403-foot (123-meter) rocket, the world’s largest and most powerful.

Starship was supposed to blast off from the southern tip of Texas with four mock satellites on board for a space-skimming test flight. If the problems can be fixed quickly, another launch attempt could come Tuesday, according to SpaceX.

The last Starship demo ended in an explosion over the Atlantic in January, with flaming debris streaming over the Turks and Caicos.

Starship has already been booked by NASA for astronaut moon landings later this decade. SpaceX’s Elon Musk intends to use the mammoth rockets to settle Mars.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Officials rushed to reschedule Mardi Gras celebrations and warned revelers against brining umbrellas and tents as powerful storms with a threat of tornadoes were expected to strike Louisiana and other parts of the South on Tuesday.

New Orleans moved up its two biggest Mardi Gras Day parades and cut down their routes to try to avoid the potentially destructive weather. Police were also expected to keep the hundreds of participants and dozens of floats moving quickly so they finished before winds were predicted to pick up, according to New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick.

The alarming forecast was one of the first big tests for the National Weather Service after hundreds of forecasters were fired last week as part of President Donald Trump’s moves to slash the size of the federal government. Former employees said the firing of meteorologists who make crucial local forecasts across the U.S. could put lives at risk.
Country faces a number of weather threats

The U.S. was facing multiple weather threats, including dust storms that brought near-zero visibility to parts of New Mexico and west Texas on Monday, prompting the National Weather Service to issue Dust Storm Warnings. “Widespread blowing dust” was expected Tuesday, said the weather service office covering Midland and Odessa, Texas.

The week’s strong weather system will bring “a threat of blizzard conditions, high winds, flash flooding, severe weather, dust storms, and critical to extreme fire weather conditions to the nation’s heartland,” according to a weather service update Monday.

On Tuesday, twisters, damaging winds and large hail were all possible as a strong storm system was set to move across the nation’s midsection into Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi, the federal Storm Prediction Center warned.

The bullseye for a heightened risk of severe weather was an area stretching from east Texas to Alabama that’s home to more than 7 million people. Cities under threat included Baton Rouge and Shreveport in Louisiana; Jackson, Mississippi; and Mobile, Alabama.
New Orleans braces for severe weather during Mardi Gras

The New Orleans area was also preparing for strong storms, though Fat Tuesday’s traditionally raucous annual rite of parades of floats and costumed merrymakers remained scheduled to hit the streets, with some changes still being worked out by authorities and leaders of “krewes” — social clubs that organize the parades.

Kirkpatrick ordered parade-goers to not bring umbrellas, tents or “anything that could fly in the wind and cause mayhem.” She warned that she may need to cancel the parades at the last minute if the weather gets worse.

“I hold that trump card in which I will not hesitate to cancel — I won’t do it lightly, but I will do it,” she said.

Two other parades that had been scheduled to roll through the city later on Tuesday with nearly 200 truck floats were postponed, Kirkpatrick said.

Just outside New Orleans in neighboring Jefferson Parish, officials canceled planned Mardi Gras Day parades due to anticipated high winds and thunderstorms.

“This is disappointing, but our top priority is ensuring the well-being of everyone in our community, and we must always prioritize safety above all else,” Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng said in a statement.

Mardi Gras floats “could become unstable” and heavy winds could “blow down trees and power lines,” the National Weather Service warned, adding gusts of up to 60 mph (97 kph) were expected Tuesday afternoon.

In Pointe Coupee Parish, near Louisiana’s capital city of Baton Rouge, the incoming weather forced drastic changes to one of the oldest Mardi Gras celebrations in the state. The parade there was scheduled to roll without any bands, marching teams or dance groups — a staple of Carnival Season parades.

Officials also moved the parade start time up and urged residents to immediately remove all tents and trash after the parade ends “due to the dangers they can present during weather.”
Other cities with Mardi Gras parades watching forecasts

Elsewhere, large crowds were expected Tuesday for Mardi Gras celebrations in Mobile, Alabama. Police there said they were continuing to monitor the forecast and would let the public know if plans for the celebration changed.

Other cities hosting large Mardi Gras events included Biloxi, Mississippi, where an annual Mardi Gras parade was scheduled to start at 1 p.m. Tuesday.

In downtown Pensacola in the Florida Panhandle, organizers were planning a Big Easy-style Mardi Gras festival that included food trucks, dancing, live entertainment and a low country seafood boil.

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Martin reported from Atlanta. Associated Press writers Sara Cline in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Freida Frisaro in Miami and Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed.

AUSTIN – The San Antonio Express-News reports that the Texas Legislature spent the past three sessions chipping away at the soaring property taxes that have strained homeowners and businesses across the state. And this year is no different: the House and Senate have already laid out their dueling plans to bring another round of relief. But as the debate picks up again, tax experts and some lawmakers caution that leaders might already be committing to unsustainable tax cuts — threatening public school funding and other essential services. On top of the $12.7 billion in new property tax cuts lawmakers agreed to in 2023, both chambers now want to spend another $3.5 billion of the state’s surplus to cut school property taxes and reimburse school districts for lost revenue.

If the increase passes, the state would be on the hook for a whopping $51 billion to pay for past cuts and fund new ones. That includes increasing the homestead exemption, which reduces the taxable value of a primary residence, and compressing tax rates for all properties. The ongoing cost of previous tax cuts has ballooned so much that it now represents 22% of the state’s total spending, according to estimates from the Legislative Budget Board. That amount will only continue to grow, even if no further cuts are enacted. That’s because of provisions written into state law in 2019 that automatically reduce tax rates as property values grow. Property taxes in Texas are among the highest in the nation, largely because the state doesn’t have an income tax to help fund basic services. “We are mindful of how much this is costing, because you have to pay for it and continue to pay for it,” said state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican who has led the chamber in property tax relief. “And that’s why you can’t overdo it.” Local property taxes fund public school districts, and lowering them means districts collect less money. To make up the difference, the state promises to reimburse districts for any lost tax revenue.