Donald Trump softens stance on Intel boss after demanding resignation
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Donald Trump signalled he was open to working with Intel boss Lip-Bu Tan to explore how the US government could help the company, appearing to soften his stance that the tech executive should quit his job.
Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Monday that Tan would work with the commerce and Treasury secretaries to offer “suggestions” within the next week for how the government can work with Intel as it contends with its lossmaking chip manufacturing business.
Trump said he met Intel’s chief executive on Monday afternoon along with commerce secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury secretary Scott Bessent after the president called on Tan to resign last week, claiming he was “highly conflicted”.
“The meeting was a very interesting one,” Trump wrote. “His success and rise is an amazing story. Mr. Tan and my Cabinet members are going to spend time together, and bring suggestions to me during the next week.”
The company said there had been a “candid and constructive discussion on Intel’s commitment to strengthening US technology and manufacturing leadership”.
Intel added: “We appreciate the president’s strong leadership to advance these critical priorities and look forward to working closely with him and his administration as we restore this great American company.”
The Treasury and commerce departments did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the concent of the discussions.
Intel has been one of the major beneficiaries of a Joe Biden-era subsidy programme aimed at bolstering US chip manufacturing. Yet financial woes stemming from huge losses in its foundry business and a failure to reap the benefits of a wave of artificial intelligence infrastructure investment have left the future of the company in doubt.
Last month Tan warned Intel could back out of the most advanced chipmaking if it is unable to win major clients for its newest so-called 14A manufacturing process.
Its withdrawal would send shockwaves through the global semiconductor industry and leave the US without a domestic alternative to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company — a blow to the White House’s efforts to onshore advanced chip manufacturing.
Tan, who took the helm at Intel in March after the board dramatically ousted his predecessor Pat Gelsinger in December, has engaged in cost-cutting measures at the company, slashing staff and abandoning manufacturing projects in Europe as he seeks to shore up the company’s finances.
Intel shares were up about 2.4 per cent in after-hours trading on Monday, after closing up 3.7 per cent ahead of Tan’s visit.
The president’s attack last week came after Tom Cotton, head of the Senate intelligence committee, wrote to the company’s chair expressing concern about the “security and integrity of Intel’s operations” and Tan’s ties to China.
Tan has been a prolific investor in China’s start-up ecosystem. From 2008 to 2021 he was CEO of chip design software company Cadence. The group last month admitted to violating US export controls by selling its tools to a Chinese university that had close ties to the country’s military during Tan’s tenure as CEO.
After Trump’s attack Malaysia-born Tan hit out at “misinformation” being spread about his background, saying he has lived in the US for four decades and he has always operated according to the highest legal and ethical standards.
