On Tuesday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed that the Trump administration is seeking a 10% stake in Intel, in a deal that would turn the U.S. government into one of the chip-manufacturing giant’s largest stakeholders.
“We should get an equity stake for our money,” Lutnick told CNBC, referring to grants awarded to Intel under the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act. “So we’ll deliver the money, which was already committed under the Biden administration. We’ll get equity in return for it.”
The administration’s proposal was met with immediate criticism, with some on the right accusing the Republican-run White House of abandoning its values. Conservative radio host Erick Erickson called the plan “terrible” and said it was “actual socialism happening by a Republican administration.”
Erickson said that Republicans who claimed to be “freaked out” over Zohran Mamdani, the self-described democratic socialist who is running for mayor of New York City, were hypocrites for not speaking out against the administration’s proposed deal. “You can’t just be against socialism when the left does it. If you’re not against socialism overall, guess what? You’re going to get socialism,” Erickson said. “So if you support socialism, apparently Donald Trump is your guy.”
Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky also attacked the administration over the proposal, which he called a “Terrible idea” in a post on X on Wednesday: “If socialism is government owning the means of production, wouldn’t the government owning part of Intel be a step toward socialism?” Despite criticism from the right, the administration does have an unusual ally in its corner: Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Sanders said he supports the president’s plan. “If microchip companies make a profit from the generous grants they receive from the federal government, the taxpayers of America have a right to a reasonable return on that investment,” Sanders told Reuters in a statement. The senator added, “Taxpayers should not be providing billions of dollars in corporate welfare to large, profitable corporations like Intel without getting anything in return.”
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW.
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