President Donald Trump on Monday supported America’s 10% stake in Intel, criticizing detractors of the deal in a morning post on Truth Social.
I PAID ZERO FOR INTEL, IT IS WORTH APPROXIMATELY 11 BILLION DOLLARS. All goes to the USA. Why are “stupid” people unhappy with that? I will make deals like that for our Country all day long. I will also help those companies that make such lucrative deals with the United States States. I love seeing their stock price go up, making the USA RICHER, AND RICHER. More jobs for America!!! Who would not want to make deals like that? – President Donald Trump, August 25, 2025
Intel shares have gained 28% this month, fueled by the deal to help shore up the struggling chipmaker and focus on American-made semiconductors. The Trump administration is considering more similar deals, according to White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett.
“I’m sure that at some point there’ll be more transactions, if not in this industry, then other industries,” Hassett told CNBC.
The $11 billion stake is a combination of common stock and grants from the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act.
“The government intervention in the free-market economy happened when the CHIPS Act was passed. Remember, it was a grant. And what President Trump has done is turn that grant into an equity position,” Larry Lindsey, a former director of the National Economic Council, said on “Mornings With Maria.” “So I don’t think there’s any increase in socialism here. I think socialism was already committed when we started allocating capital the way we did back then.”
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said in a statement to FOX Business: “The CHIPS Act was a doomed Democrat led ploy for corporate welfare; it should be rescinded, not expanded into government acquisition of private companies.”
Maria, what’s unique about what just happened though, and different from just a willy-nilly purchasing of shares or ownership shares, is that the money had already been spent by the government, so Intel was sitting there with the money as a grant. Now, the government gets something in return for that grant. So, the intervention into the private sector happened when the CHIPS Act was passed.
The CHIPS Act was passed on July 27, 2022 and signed into law during the previous administration on August 9, 2022.
Even if some bets don’t pan out, it’s better than just handing out taxpayers’ money to companies for free. Any grants that do generate revenue will return something instead of nothing for the investor, which is, in these cases, the American taxpayer.
By just handing out taxpayers’ money with no strings attached, the American taxpayer foots the bill for each company involved with no hope of any returns ever. Why was it ever that way? Just an endless string of bad deals made by people who were supposed to be stewards of taxpayer’s money, yet thought of it as their own.
Let us never forget this fundamental truth. The state has no source of money other than the money people earn themselves… There is no such thing as public money, there is only taxpayers’ money. – Margaret Thatcher
This way, if a company uses American taxpayers’ money to generate profits, the taxpayers get returns on their investments.
That said, the United States of America isn’t communist China, so any stake the government takes on behalf of American taxpayers MUST ALWAYS be non-voting.
Finally, some companies are too far gone and are just meant to die. Yes, we’re talking about Intel whose ex-CEO Paul Ottelini made a potentially fatal decision not to take up Steve Jobs on his offer to develop the microprocessor for the original iPhone. One big mistake like that can take down a company. Intel is an also-ran today. Propping up such companies with American taxpayers’ money only prolongs the inevitable.
Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. – Steve Jobs
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