President Donald Trump blasted what he perceived as the incompetence of previous presidents for allowing Taiwan to become a global leader in semiconductor manufacturing. Given their prominence in technological development and the fact that semiconductors were “invented in America,” the president criticized his predecessors for allowing the “semiconductor industry” to be dominated by a foreign country. Trump made the comments in a Truth Social post shortly after midnight on Thursday.
“The Technology the World relies on was invented in America,” said Trump. “We all remember ‘Intel Inside.’ Stupid Presidents took our Economy for granted, and let Taiwan and others steal our Semiconductor Factories. They forgot to protect our Industries with TARIFFS. When I won my Second Term (Third, actually!), it was clear America needed its Semiconductor Industry to come back to the U.S.A. We design everything, but we need to BUILD it here, NOW!”
He also stressed the importance of building semiconductors in the U.S. Trump explained that this was an impetus for his decision to “help Intel” by having the U.S. government purchase a 9.9% stake in the company, buying 433.3 million primary shares of Intel stock at $20.47 per share in 2025.
“As the only semiconductor company that does leading-edge logic R&D and manufacturing in the U.S., Intel is deeply committed to ensuring the world’s most advanced technologies are American made,” Lip-Bu Tan, CEO of Intel, said at the time. “President Trump’s focus on U.S. chip manufacturing is driving historic investments in a vital industry that is integral to the country’s economic and national security. We are grateful for the confidence the President and the Administration have placed in Intel, and we look forward to working to advance U.S. technology and manufacturing leadership.”
This morning, Trump reiterated the significance of having a flourishing semiconductor manufacturing industry in the U.S. And, in his Truth Social post, he announced that Apple has agreed to collaborate with Intel to manufacture its chips in the U.S.
“So I decided to help Intel because we need to design and build our Chips right here in America,” Trump said in his post. “First, we helped bring in Nvidia, and they agreed to build their first level Chips with Intel. Next, Elon agreed to build his TerraFab, the largest Chip Factory in the World, designed together with Intel’s Technology team. And, finally, Apple has agreed to work with Intel to design and build its Chips in America.”
The president then touted the success of purchasing the stake in Intel.
“We decided to help Intel in exchange for 10% of their shares. Is that too much or, too little?” he said. “They were worth around 100 Billion Dollars when we made our offer. Now they are worth over 600 BILLION DOLLARS! Nine months, and they’ve increased in value over HALF A TRILLION DOLLARS. America’s stake is now over 60 Billion Dollars.”
“When was the last time a President made America money??” Trump boasted.
