White House targeting deals in range of industries before midterms - Reuters

Investing.com - The White House has been targeting deals across as many as 30 industries, in the hope of securing agreements prior to next year’s mid-term elections, according to Reuters.

Citing sources familiar with the matter, the news agency said Trump administration officials have been speaking with dozens of companies it believes are critical to either national or economic security, offering a range of potential deal sweeteners -- among them, tariff relief, revenue guarantees or equity stakes in troubled businesses.

Such discussions are designed to help President Donald Trump show political victories in the run-up to the 2026 mid-term elections, the report said, adding that the deals must be announced by the White House.

Trump has been backing the use of the U.S. government’s broad powers to push companies to shift manufacturing to the United States, reduce their operations in China, bolster government coffers, and strengthen supply chains for critical products, Reuters reported.

Semiconductors, energy, battery production, artificial intelligence, and freight are a selection of a wide swath of sectors which have reportedly been contacted by the Trump administration. Pharmaceutical executives in particular have received consistent calls from Whiet House staff members and agencies like Health & Human Services, the report said.

As part of this effort, the White House has tapped the International Development Finance Corporation, a federal agency, to oversee and finance the plan, Reuters said. A proposal put forward by the agency to Congress in June would expand its financing authority to $250 billion from $60 billion, although legislators have yet to approve it.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is seen as Trump’s "dealmaker-in-chief," the report said. Lutnick has previously overseen many of the Trump administration’s largest deals so far, such as a 10% stake in chipmaker Intel and a "golden share" folded into Nippon Steel’s $14.9 billion purchase of U.S. Steel earlier this year.