Donald Trump
After its deal with Intel, the US could be paving a new way to build wealth by investing in more private companies.US President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, said on Monday that more such investments may follow.Hassett, who heads the National Economic Council, told CNBC that Trump’s push for a sovereign wealth fund is part of the plan. “I’m sure that at some point there’ll be more transactions” in the semiconductor industry or others, he said.The comments came after Washington agreed to take a 9.9% stake in Intel, valued at $8.9 billion. Under the deal, the US government will receive 433.3 million shares of common stock.The money comes in part from $5.7 billion in grants under the CHIPS and Science Act, a law passed during Joe Biden’s presidency but criticised by Trump, along with funding from another award.Hassett said that the shift marks a new approach. “In the past, the federal government has been giving money away,” he said. By contrast, under the Intel deal, “these are going to be shares that don’t have voting rights.” He further added that the government does not intend to interfere in how companies are run.However, Intel flagged potential risks in a securities filing on Monday. The company warned that the government’s equity stake could reduce its chances of winning future grants and that uncertainties remain around the timing and conditions of funding. It also cautioned that its global business might be “adversely impacted” by the US government being a major shareholder.Critics fear that politics could start to drive business decisions, hurting the company’s prospects.The strategy is tied to Trump’s wider vision. In February, soon after returning to the White House, his administration unveiled plans to establish a sovereign wealth fund for the world’s largest economy. Such funds, common in resource-rich nations, use state reserves to secure long-term financial returns.For now, Hassett described the Intel case as exceptional. He said that it came out of “a very, very special circumstance because of the massive amount of CHIPS act spending that was coming Intel’s way,” he explained.
