“An Amazing Story”: Trump Praises Intel CEO After Previously Calling For His Resignation

President Donald Trump struck a notably warmer tone toward Intel Corp. CEO Lip-Bu Tan on Monday, just days after publicly demanding his resignation.

“The meeting was a very interesting one,” Trump wrote in a social media post after hosting Tan at the White House. “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.”

Trump added that Cabinet officials will continue discussions with Tan in the coming days, Bloomberg reported on Monday.

The shift marks a stark reversal from last Thursday, when Trump accused Tan of being “highly CONFLICTED” and said he “must resign, immediately.” That post came after Republican Senator Tom Cotton sent a letter to Intel’s board questioning Tan’s ties to China—including investments in the country’s semiconductor firms and companies with links to its military.

Tan, a Malaysian-born American citizen, has rejected those allegations and says he has the full support of Intel’s board. He reached out to the White House to address what he described as “misinformation” about his track record.

Tan took over as Intel’s chief executive earlier this year with the aim of turning around the struggling chipmaker and bolstering U.S. manufacturing capabilities in a sector widely viewed as critical to national security.

Political scrutiny intensified following reports that Cadence Design Systems—where Tan served as CEO until 2021—agreed to pay $140 million last month to settle U.S. Justice Department charges over sales of chip-design software to a Chinese military university.

While Tan has not been personally accused of wrongdoing, the optics have been politically fraught, particularly amid the “America First” push to keep strategic industries closely aligned with the federal government.

Monday’s meeting appeared to ease tensions. According to people familiar with the discussions, Tan outlined his personal and professional history, emphasized his loyalty to the United States, and pitched ways the government and Intel could work more closely together. He also underscored the importance of safeguarding Intel’s domestic manufacturing capacity as a matter of national security.

The meeting came as Intel shares jumped about 5% at the market open Monday on news that Tan would be meeting with Trump. Investors are watching closely as the administration pushes deeper involvement in strategic industries such as semiconductors and rare earth minerals.

Just last month, the government took a private stake in MP Materials, and we have have speculated Intel could be next in line for a similar “golden share” arrangement—similar to what the administration pursued in the U.S. Steel–Nippon deal.

Whether or not that materializes, Intel remains the only truly critical U.S.-based semiconductor manufacturer, positioning it to benefit from policy tailwinds regardless of who sits in the CEO’s chair.

But for now, at least, the political storm around Tan appears to have calmed—with Trump’s post-meeting praise suggesting a potential thaw in what just days ago looked like an irreparable rift.