President Donald Trump vigorously defended his administration’s multi-billion-dollar deal with the technology company Intel on Monday in a fiery social media post, claiming he “paid zero for Intel,” despite the agreement including the United States government investing nearly $9 billion into the company.
“I paid zero for Intel, it is worth approximately $11 billion,” Trump wrote Monday on his Truth Social platform. “All goes to the USA. Why are ‘stupid’ people unhappy with that? I will make deals like that for our country all day long.”
The Trump administration’s deal with Intel was reached last week, with the Silicon Valley technology company agreeing to sell the U.S. government $8.9 billion in company shares, an investment that comes just three years after the U.S. government’s $2.2 billion investment in the company under the CHIPS Act.
A number of critics have condemned the deal, however. Scott Linicome of the Cato Institute called it “antithetical to American greatness” and a “terrible decision,” that would go on to create “real harms for U.S. companies.” Specifically, he and other critics argue the deal would set a precedent for companies’ decisions to be increasingly driven by politics, and not market factors.
To his critics, however, Trump insisted the government’s deal with Intel had no downsides, and went on to suggest similar deals with other companies would be forthcoming.
“I will also help those companies that make such lucrative deals with the United States,” Trump continued. “I love seeing their stock price go up, making the USA richer and richer. More jobs for America! Who would not want to make deals like that?”