Apple said on Monday it will spend more than $500 billion in the United States over the next four years and hire 20,000 people, with President Donald Trump quickly taking credit for the announcement.

The Silicon Valley-based giant said it was its "largest-ever spend commitment," which comes as tech companies battle for dominance in developing artificial intelligence technology.

The pivot to the US comes as Apple is increasingly under pressure from Trump's trade battles with China, which remains the iPhone giant's main manufacturing hub, and could be slapped with higher import tariffs by Washington.

Trump, who has pushed US companies to shift manufacturing home, claimed that his administration was to thank for the investment.

"The reason, faith in what we are doing, without which, they wouldn't be investing ten cents. Thank you Tim Cook and Apple!!!" Trump wrote in capital letters on his Truth Social........

© International Business Times