Author: Henry Hayes
Graphics: Yarden Pri-Noy
An AI “day-trading” meme posted by President Trump coincided with the U.S. quietly taking a nearly 10% stake in Intel. The move signals a tilt toward state ownership, raising concerns over crony-capitalism and market integrity.
On September 18th, 2025, President Trump posted a strange, uncaptioned, AI-generated picture to his social media platform, Truth Social. While the President is no stranger to posting bizarre AI-generated content, this specific image struck many as particularly cryptic.
Cryptic Message or Classic Boomer Meme?
Following the President’s post, some were quick to point out that the numbers displayed alongside the “INTEL” ticker seemed congruent with real events. For example, the “BOUGHT: INTEL 20”monitor may have been referencing the government’s acquisition of 433.3 million Intel shares (a 9.9% stake in the company) just one month earlier for $20.47 per share — a roughly 17.5% discount on Intel’s market price of $24.80 per share on the day of the acquisition. Additionally, the “INTEL: NOW 30” monitor may have been based on Intel’s actual closing price on the day of the post: $30.57.
It is anyone’s guess what sort of prompt was used to generate this image, or who actually entered said prompt, for that matter. One thing, however, is clear: the President found an image of him trading stocks — which prominently featured real Intel stock price approximations — important enough to post that day. This is important to note because September 18th was quite an important day for Intel. On that day, their collaboration with graphics-chip manufacturer Nvidia — which saw the latter purchasing $5 billion in Intel stock — was announced.
Upon the announcement, Intel stock surged roughly 23% in one day — from $24.90 to $30.57. As of early November 2025, Intel stock is hovering at $39.50, meaning that the administration’s investment has appreciated roughly 93% so far, from $8.9 billion to $17.2 billion.
The Context
If it seems strange that the government is investing substantially in a Public company — particularly when said company is not in dire financial trouble — it is. The circumstances surrounding the deal are even more troubling. In the weeks leading up to the deal, President Trump hurled verbal blows at Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, primarily out of concern over the CEO’s ties to and investments in Chinese companies. The President, on August 7th, even went so far as to demand Tan’s resignation, saying this on Truth Social:
“The CEO of INTEL is highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately. There is no other solution to this problem.”
President Donald Trump
How, then, could such a substantial deal between the two have materialized just two weeks after that comment? I will let the president himself answer that question:
“He walked in wanting to keep his job and he ended up giving us $10 billion for the United States. So we picked up $10 billion.”
President Donald Trump
It is worth noting that following the deal, there have been no announcements or reports of Tan divesting in any of the 600 Chinese companies — many with ties to the military — whose investment by Tan ostensibly sparked the president’s initial hostility.
While national security has been cited as a principle justification for the acquisition, that argument seems dubious in this case. National security concerns did inform the passage of the CHIPS and science act — the act through which Intel was initially awarded its grant monies. The primary purpose of that act was to strengthen our semiconductor supply chain through economic incentives (like grants). However, the government acquiring a stake in a non-failing company like Intel is far from an incentive. In fact, such behavior is more akin to an unwelcome intrusion for businesses, the kind that generally drives them out of a country
The Ominous Parallels
What we saw with this deal was the President of the United States pressuring the CEO of a private company into a 10% nationalization at a 17.5% discount. This was done without the approval of Congress by “converting” funds initially appropriated as grants through the CHIPS and Science Act into equity. The word “converting” is in quotation marks because receiving grant money is far better for a business than selling equity. This is because, while equity sales require diluting the positions of existing shareholders, grant money is simply added to a company’s balance sheet. The massive discount and dilution would be considered quite a raw deal for shareholders in most cases.
The President of the United States was able to force a massive company into a deal that, by these aforementioned metrics, was disproportionately beneficial for the government. Not only this, but acquiring a stake in a company not on the brink of collapse constitutes an unprecedented departure from the post-WWII legal norm. This Intel deal and three other significant government acquisitions — MP materials (15% stake), Lithium Americas (10% stake), and Trinity Metals (10% stake) — which preceded it, represent crony capitalism at its finest.
A party whose leader not only intrudes on private enterprise in such unprecedented ways, but brags about his doing so through AI-generated pictures uploaded to his own proprietary social media platform (where a re-post is called a ReTruth) can certainly not be called a party with integrity — let alone a party which upholds free market principles.
Take-Home Points
- Trump recently posted an AI-generated “day trading” image showing figures that mapped onto real events. The same day, Intel’s collaboration with Nvidia was announced, and Intel’s stock jumped roughly 23% in one day.
- Despite publicly pressuring CEO Lip-Bu Tan over China ties earlier that month, the U.S. acquired almost 10% of Intel (~433.3M shares) at a 17.5% discount—with that stake nearly doubling in value by early November of 2025. The deal “converted” CHIPS Act grant funds into equity without new congressional approval, marking a sharp departure from post-WWII norms.
- The deal “converted” CHIPS Act grant funds into equity without new congressional approval, marking a sharp departure from post-WWII norms.
- With similar government stakes in MP Materials, Lithium Americas, and Trinity Metals, the Intel move signals an unprecedented tilt toward nationalization, raising concerns about crony capitalism and free-market integrity.
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