U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday Japan's Nippon Steel will not buy U.S. Steel and would instead invest in the company, which would dramatically reshape the $15 billion merger bid that had been in negotiation for more than a year.

President Donald Trump is suggesting that Nippon Steel will no longer buy U.S. Steel as planned, but the Japanese company will instead invest in the symbolically important American business.

"They'll be looking at an investment rather than a purchase," President Donald Trump said at a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.