Donald Trump has taken credit after Exxon Mobil unveiled plans to spend $20bn in the Gulf Coast

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Exxon Mobil has said it will invest $20bn (£16bn) over a 10-year period to expand its presence in the US Gulf Coast – and Donald Trump has taken credit.

Following the announcement, a White House issued statement appeared to copy an entire paragraph from the oil firm's press release.

Last night the world's largest listed energy company said it will create thousands of new jobs at 11 proposed and existing sites to "take advantage of the American energy revolution", as Darren Woods, chairman and chief executive, put it in a speech at the CeraWeek conference.

The firm is investing in new refining and manufacturing projects in the region to strengthen its export capacity towards Asia and elsewhere. Starting in 2013, the investments are expected to continue to at least 2022.

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"These projects are export machines, generating products that high-growth nations need to support larger populations with higher standards of living," Woods said.

"Those overseas markets are the motivation behind our investments. The supply is here; the demand is there. We want to keep connecting those dots."

Woods added the projects will provide long-term economic benefits to the regions in Texas and Louisiana, creating more than 45,000 jobs, many of which will average salaries of around $100,000 a year.

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Donald Trump paid tribute to Exxon Mobil for the investment on Twitter (despite the project beginning in 2013).

Then he thanked it again.

And again…

In the White House's statement, a Washington Post reporter noted the President's administration appeared to lift a paragraph from the oil firm's press release.

Trump's secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, was the boss of Exxon Mobil until December.