Intel chief executive Lip-Bu Tan is fighting to hold on to his job, and his latest move meant taking the battle straight to Washington, D.C.
Only days after President Donald Trump publicly demanded his resignation while calling him “highly CONFLICTED,” Tan appeared at the White House on Aug. 11 for a face-to-face meeting with the president and two senior cabinet officials.
President Trump posted on Truth Social that the conversation, which included Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, was “very interesting.”
“His success and rise is an amazing story,” the president added. “Mr. Tan and my Cabinet members are going to spend time together, and bring suggestions to me during the next week.”
Intel later confirmed the meeting, with a spokesperson describing it as a “candid and constructive discussion on Intel’s commitment to strengthening U.S. technology and manufacturing leadership.”
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Intel CEO and White House: from public clash to cautious cooperation
The meeting came as a surprise, given President Trump’s heated rhetoric and insistence that there was “no other solution” but for Tan to resign.
The president’s harsh words followed a letter from Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, which questioned Tan’s past investments in Chinese chipmakers, including some allegedly tied to the Chinese Communist Party and military.
Cotton also referred to a prior criminal case involving Cadence Design Systems, where Tan previously served as CEO.
The criticism sent shares of Intel down more than 3% the following day, though Tan promptly pushed back, issuing a statement that the company was engaging with the administration and insisting he shared “the president’s commitment to advancing U.S. national and economic security.”
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Prior to joining Intel’s board in 2022 and taking the helm as CEO in March 2025, Tan built his career as a prominent venture capitalist with investments spanning East Asia, including China.
Those ties are now drawing heightened scrutiny in Washington, D.C., where corporate leadership and geopolitical tensions now frequently intersect.
Intel’s leadership position in the global chip market raises the stakes even more; Cotton pointed out in his letter that the company received nearly $8 billion in funding under the CHIPS and Science Act — the single largest award to any company — in support of domestic semiconductor manufacturing.
Lip-Bu Tan led Intel restructuring amid political strife
Tan took over as CEO at a crucial inflection point in the fast-growing artificial intelligence sector, where Nvidia (NVDA) has emerged as another clear leader.
Under Tan’s leadership, Intel has announced significant cost reductions, canceled planned facilities in Germany and Poland, and slowed work on a major Ohio plant in an effort to stabilize its finances and reallocate resources.
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Meanwhile, the political storm surrounding Tan is playing out against a backdrop of active White House engagement with the tech sector.
President Trump confirmed on Aug. 11 that Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) agreed to a 15% revenue-sharing arrangement with the federal government in exchange for export licenses, which would grant them permission to sell Nvidia’s H20 and AMD’s MI308 chips to Chinese customers.
Market reacts to signs of Intel-Trump thaw
For now, investors appear to be betting that Tan’s outreach to the Trump administration has effectively calmed the waters. Intel stock closed up around 5.6% on Tuesday, more than recouping last week’s decline.
Whether the bounce proves temporary may hinge on the outcome of Tan’s planned discussions with the president’s cabinet this week. For the embattled CEO, the coming days might determine if he can secure not only the administration’s confidence, but also his own long-term future at Intel.
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