Lip Bu Tan Pulls Voodoo Act on Trump (Uncle Sam Looking to BTFD On Intel)

Uncle Sam be like: “Diamond hands, baby…”

Well look how the turntables, my friends. Last week, Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan was one “Breaking: Sources say” headline away from a resignation letter. Today, he’s a “success story” in the eyes of President Trump… who, days ago, publicly called for Tan to step down over his alleged ties to the Red Dragon. 

(Source: Giphy) 

For starters, Republican lawmakers… and eventually The Don himself… went scorched Earth on Tan over rumors of being some form of Chinese spy. Sen. Tom Cotton grilled him about his past at Cadence Design and whether he had divested from companies linked to the CCP and PLA. Trump even wrote that Tan was “highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately.” Tan called it “fake news” (which, to be fair… is exactly what someone would say if it were true), then got summoned to the White House. By Monday, Trump was singing his praises in public. Somewhere in that meeting, Tan managed to go from “probable liability” to “VIP dinner guest at Mar-a-Lago.”

(Source: CNBC) 

Case in point: After the intimate meeting, Trump posted on Truth Social that he’d met with Tan alongside Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, describing the CEO’s “success and rise” as “an amazing story.” As a result, Intel shares not only rose 2% after hours on the news… but Bloomberg reported the U.S. government is considering taking a stake in Intel…a.k.a, a move that would be rare outside of crisis-level intervention. Translation: I don’t know what Lip Bu Tan said, but he just gave Trump the “Art of the Deal” treatment. 

Of course, the rationale behind this is simple: Intel is the only American-owned chipmaker with a foundry capable of producing cutting-edge semiconductors (eventually… its Ohio site is still in slow motion). So buying in would be Uncle Sam doubling down on the “national security” excuse it used when it took a $400M stake in MP Materials, America’s lone rare earth miner. It’s also an acknowledgment that Intel has been bleeding market share in AI to Nvidia while blowing billions trying to reboot its manufacturing muscle. If Washington writes a check, it’s partly to accelerate that foundry buildout… and and partly to keep it from being another “we coulda been a contender” case study.

(Source: Giphy) 

Also keep in mind, this comes on the heels of Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang was in the White House Friday, leaving with a deal that allows the company to sell its H20 chip to China again… but ONLY in exchange for giving the U.S. government 15% of those sales. Trump said he initially demanded 20%, then “negotiated” down. Savage.

However, with that said, while this all sounds great in writing… Intel’s turnaround hinges on a few miracles. One, operational competence (which the jury is still out on), and two, not pissing away any cash infusions on more botched chip rollouts. Meaning, if the feds take a stake, it’s not just a bailout… it’s a bet that America’s chip strategy still runs through Intel (that is, of course, if Intel doesn’t somehow in some way sh*t the bed with it). But still, this is a BFD, especially for investors who have patiently been battered by the company’s performance over the years. Obviously, only time will tell if Uncle Sam “buys the dip” here… but for now, keep your eyes on this story and place your bets accordingly. Things could get wild for semis going forward. Until next time, friends…

At the time of publishing, Stocks.News holds positions in Intel as mentioned in the article.