NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump has a message for critics who think turning the U.S. government into a major stockholder of Intel is a “socialist” move: More is coming.
“I will make deals like that for our Country all day long,” the president posted on Truth Social after critics piled on, adding later about future ownership stakes, “I want to try and get as much as I can.”
One possible target: defense contractors, whom Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC Tuesday were ripe for the picking given the U.S. government is a big customer.
Free-market conservatives were already wary of Trump’s tendency to interfere in corporate decision-making by, for example, telling Apple where it should make iPhones, or even demanding a cut of Nvidia’s sales of chips to China. But the Intel move is a startling defiance of Republican orthodoxy that says governments shouldn’t try to pick corporate winners and losers and risk messing things up as owners by rewarding executives for politically smart but financially stupid decisions.
The U.S. government is getting a 10% stake in Intel through the conversion of billions in previously granted government funds and pledges, making it one of Intel’s largest shareholders.