Last month, President Donald Trump announced an unusual deal. Intel, the biggest microchip maker in America, had agreed to give the United States a 10 percent stake in its business. That means the U.S. government is now Intel's largest shareholder — and a major American company is now a partially state-owned enterprise.
This deal has raised a lot of eyebrows. The U.S. government almost never gets tangled up with businesses like this. Some have accused the president of taking a step toward, well, socialism.
But the Intel deal didn't come out of nowhere. It's actually the latest chapter in one of the most aggressive economic experiments the United States has ever attempted. An experiment that Trump is now taking in a surprising new direction.
On today's show, we unpack the Intel deal. Where did it come from, and what does it say about President Trump's unconventional approach to managing the economy.
For more:
- The President's Golden Share in U.S. Steel
- Bringing a tariff to a graphite fight
- A controversial idea at the heart of Bidenomics
- The strange way the world's fastest microchips are made
- Why are we so obsessed with manufacturing?
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This episode was hosted by Jeff Guo and Keith Romer. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Jess Jiang and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Engineering by Jimmy Keeley with help from Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.
Music: Universal Production Music - "Too Much," "Dubfunk Unicorn," and "Sun Kissed"
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