President Donald Trump casually mentioned Tuesday that Foxconn's chairman told him in confidence the electronics giant's investment could reach $30 billion, triple the size of last week's deal with Wisconsin that some already viewed as optimistically inflated.

Trump made the comments while addressing small-business leaders at the White House. He didn't elaborate on how the figure could grow so high or even clarify whether he was referring to just Wisconsin or nationwide -including investments in other plants not yet announced. "They're going to spend $10 billion, but he is one of the great businessmen of our time," Trump said in reference to Foxconn CEO Terry Gou.

"And I think the number is going to be $30 billion. He told me off the record he thinks he may go $30 billion, $30 billion. Think of this. He may go 30 billion dollar investment, but he told me that off the record so I promised I wouldn't tell anyone." Foxconn officials didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.