Trump announces U.S. acquisition of Intel stake
President Donald Trump just announced that the U.S. government has acquired stake in Intel, the chipmaking company.
Trump announced the move, which is controversial, on social media.
Take a look:
It is my Great Honor to report that the United States of America now fully owns and controls 10% of INTEL, a Great American Company that has an even more incredible future. I negotiated this Deal with Lip-Bu Tan, the Highly Respected Chief Executive Officer of the Company. The…
— Trump Truth Social Posts On X (@TrumpTruthOnX) August 22, 2025
The details:
According to the Daily Mail, the U.S. government is acquiring a 10% share of Intel.
Per the outlet:
Donald Trump confirmed that Intel has agreed to sell off 10 percent of the company to the US government in an $8.9billion investment that the president says will cost Americans nothing. The largest chip manufacturer in the US has been in talks with Washington over a potential government stake in the company.
Trump celebrated the news on social media.
He wrote:
It is my Great Honor to report that the United States of America now fully owns and controls 10% of INTEL, a Great American Company that has an even more incredible future. I negotiated this Deal with Lip-Bu Tan, the Highly Respected Chief Executive Officer of the Company. The United States paid nothing for these Shares, and the Shares are now valued at approximately $11 Billion Dollars. This is a great Deal for America and, also, a great Deal for INTEL. Building leading edge Semiconductors and Chips, which is what INTEL does, is fundamental to the future of our Nation. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Thank you for your attention to this matter.
As stated, though, the move is not without controversy.
An overture to socialism?
What may surprise some is that Republicans are among those criticising the president's move. The chief criticism seems to be that this move looks a lot like socialism.
U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, for example, is among the chief critics.
He wrote, "If socialism is government owning the means of production, wouldn’t the government owning part of Intel be a step toward socialism? Terrible idea."
Trump, at the time of this writing, has yet to meet this criticism head-on.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick recently explained the idea behind the move, saying:
The president figures out that we should get, America should get the benefit of the bargain. I mean, that is exactly Donald Trump’s perspective, which is, why are we giving a company worth $100 billion this kind of money? What is in it for the American taxpayer? And the answer Donald Trump has is we should get an equity stake for our money.
