CINCINNATI -- President Donald Trump interrupted his speech at Rivertowne Marina Wednesday to invite a pair of New York City real estate developers onstage.
Steven Roth of Vornado Realty Trust and Richard LeFrak of the firm LeFrak will have a role as advisors in Trump's infrastructure plan. They will also create public-private partnerships to fund projects, CNBC reported.
The president called them "a couple of the greatest builders" during his speech.
Trump said his plan includes a $200 billion federal investment in infrastructure that "will be matched by significant additional dollars."
"These are great builders, and we're watching and they're looking over our shoulders," Trump said. "Believe me, they don't need the money. They're not doing it for that. I said, 'Make sure it's going to come in on time, under budget, maybe even ahead of schedule.' ... They're going to be watching and looking over some of the big jobs that we have planned, so it gets done properly."
Both men have a long history with Trump.
Roth has partnered on projects with Trump, co-owning a pair of properties worth hundreds-of-millions of dollars. Vornado also has invested in a real estate project with the business owned by the family of Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
LeFrak is a longtime friend of Trump and a member at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club, according to the New York Times. He comes from a real estate family similar to the Trumps.
"We're all fortunate to have the greatest builder in America, Donald Jr. Trump, standing behind an infrastructure program which America sorely needs and is ready to implement," LeFrak told the crowd at Rivertowne.
Go hereto read more about Trump's Cincinnati visit.
