Trump: "I Asked for 10% of Intel for Free"

Interview with Fortune
"Tariffs Are a '600 Billion Dollar Annual Revenue Source'"

U.S. President Donald Trump, on May 18 (local time), personally explained the process by which the U.S. government acquired a stake in the American semiconductor company Intel, claiming it was done for the benefit of American businesses.

U.S. President Donald Trump. The White House

In an interview with the U.S. business magazine Fortune that day, President Trump said, "I told them, 'Give the country 10% ownership for free in Intel,'" explaining the situation.

President Trump added, "He (Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan) replied, 'Let's make a deal,'" quipping, "Damn, I should have asked for more."

Although President Trump described it as 'receiving it for free,' the U.S. government's acquisition of a 10% stake in Intel was essentially a quid pro quo for providing subsidies to Intel under the CHIPS Act. At the time, the value of the 10% stake in Intel was about 10 billion dollars.

President Trump stated, "In just eight months, the value of the Intel shares owned by the government has grown to over 50 billion dollars," and questioned, "Do people even know what I did?" He emphasized, "I want American companies to succeed."

President Trump also asserted, "If I had come into office earlier and protected Intel with tariffs, it would have become the world's largest company by now." He continued, "We should have stopped companies from importing chips from China when they first started doing so." He further argued, "If that had happened, Intel would have captured most of the business it has today, and Taiwan would not even exist."

Additionally, President Trump expressed strong dissatisfaction with the recent court rulings, insisting that tariffs could have been a national revenue source of 600 billion dollars (about 897 trillion won) annually. Regarding the recent Supreme Court decision ruling some reciprocal tariffs unconstitutional, he said, "I'm really angry."

President Trump remarked, "The United States could have earned 600 billion dollars a year, but now it has been reduced by almost half," and asked, "Can you imagine having to return 149 billion dollars (about 223 trillion won) to countries that have taken advantage of America for so long?"

However, there are criticisms that President Trump's claim of '600 billion dollars a year' in tariff revenue is exaggerated. Some research institutes, such as Yale University's Budget Lab, estimate that his tariff policy would have generated approximately 200 to 300 billion dollars (about 299 trillion to 449 trillion won) annually.

President Trump also reaffirmed his position that tariffs could help supplement the national treasury. Referring to the U.S. national debt, he said, "We have 38 trillion dollars (5,680.6 trillion won) in debt," and added, "Some people say what I'm doing is un-American, but they don't see the bigger picture."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.