Several Republicans have criticized President Donald Trump’s recent corporate deals, with the 10% equity stake in Intel being the latest in a series of moves that Washington has made to acquire ownership or generate revenue from private companies. According to The Hill, several conservative senators and even former staffers from the first Trump administration are calling these moves a step towards socialism.
“If I was [sic] speaking to the president, I’d encourage him: It’s time to think twice,” former Vice President Mike Pence said to the publication. “State-owned enterprise is not the American way. Free enterprise is the American way.”
Intel has been struggling since 2024, having released a disastrous financial report in August of last year. Although the American chip maker has already received $2.2 billion in CHIPS Act funds, its financial situation suggests that it may struggle to meet the targets required to receive the balance of the nearly $ 8 billion grant awarded during the Biden administration. Things were made worse when the company’s new CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, was dragged into a row over Cadence, which admitted to selling its products to banned Chinese entities while he was its chief executive.
Trump initially called for Tan to resign, but changed his tone when the Intel CEO visited the White House. The president said that Intel’s chief would make some proposals to the U.S. government, after which the news came that the U.S. government is taking a 9.9% ownership stake in the company. This happened a little less than a month after AMD and Nvidia struck a deal with the White House to give 15% of their China revenue in exchange for getting export licenses for the H20 and MI308 to the country.
It was these moves (alongside the “golden share” the White House received from U.S. Steel) that alarmed the rest of the GOP. Sen. Tillis from North Carolina said that these deals make it feel like tech companies are becoming semi-state-owned enterprises and compared it to the former Soviet Union, while Kentucky’s Sen. Paul said that the Intel deal is a step towards socialism. These comments from conservative party members are painting Trump’s moves as something that would undermine the free market and make the country like China, Russia, and other countries where the state has heavier control over the economy.
Nevertheless, Trump is keen on pushing forward with deals like this. While Intel is worrying about the possible international backlash of Washington’s 10% stake in the company, Trump is going all-in. “I PAID ZERO FOR INTEL, IT IS WORTH APPROXIMATELY 11 BILLION DOLLARS. All goes to the USA,” Trump said on his social media platform. “Why are “stupid” people unhappy with that? I will make deals like that for our Country all day long.”
