(Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump is considering allowing Japan’s Nippon Steel to complete its $14.9 billion buyout of US Steel, CBS News reported, though Trump said Friday he hasn’t changed his mind on his opposition to the deal.
Approval is not definite, and Trump has not made a final decision, CBS reported, citing sources.
In the Oval Office Friday, Trump said he hadn’t changed his mind. “No, I think we’re going to be discussing that today. No, I haven’t and I hear we’ll have some pretty good information on that,” Trump said without being specific, after meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
Were Trump to approve the deal, it would be an about-face of his view during the 2024 election campaign, when he railed against the proposed transaction on several occasions.
“I am totally against the once great and powerful U.S. Steel being bought by a foreign company, in this case Nippon Steel of Japan,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social in December. “I will block this deal from happening. Buyer Beware!!!”
U.S. Steel and Nippon did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comments.
Nippon Steel’s bid was blocked last month by former President Joe Biden. On Thursday, Trump met U.S. Steel Chief Executive David Burritt at the White House as the struggling steelmaker has been pushing for a decision on the takeover, which is opposed by the United Steelworkers union.
The proposed merger became highly politicized ahead of November’s U.S. presidential election, with both Biden and Trump pledging to kill it. Nippon Steel put forth a series of concessions to try to sway public opinion in favor of the deal.
U.S. Steel shares were up 2.6% in afternoon trading Friday.
(Reporting by Steve Holland in Washington and Aatreyee Dasgupta and Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru)
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