President Donald Trump has called on Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan to resign because of his past ties to China, the latest challenge to hit the troubled chip maker.
The Wall Street Journal reports that President Donald Trump has demanded the resignation of Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan over his ties to China, adding to the challenges facing the struggling chipmaker. In a post on his Truth Social platform on Thursday, Trump stated, “The CEO of INTEL is highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately. There is no other solution to this problem.”
Trump’s call for Tan’s resignation comes on the heels of scrutiny from Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas. Earlier this week, Cotton penned an open letter to Intel’s board, questioning Tan’s connections to the Chinese government, including apparent links to the country’s military and investments in other semiconductor companies.
Cotton, who chairs the Intelligence Committee and holds a senior position in Republican leadership, expressed concerns about Tan’s longtime role as CEO of Silicon Valley software company Cadence Design Systems. Cadence recently agreed to pay $140 million for violating U.S. export restrictions by selling to China’s National University of Defense Technology.
In his letter, Cotton emphasized that companies receiving government grants, such as Intel, which is set to receive billions in federal funding to boost domestic chip production in Ohio, must be responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars and adhere to strict security regulations. He called on Intel’s board to provide Congress with an explanation regarding Tan’s ties to China.
Intel has defended Tan and dismissed suggestions that the company poses a threat to U.S. national security. Tan, who took over as CEO in March, has been tasked with turning the company around by cutting costs and improving performance in existing business lines. However, his previous ties to China as a venture capitalist who invested in Chinese tech companies before entering the semiconductor industry have invited scrutiny from lawmakers.
Intel’s challenges have not gone unnoticed by the Trump administration. The company has delayed its Ohio manufacturing project after struggling to keep pace with competitors in the AI race and shore up its finances. Some administration officials have grown frustrated with Intel’s difficulties and are reconsidering their collaboration with the company.
Breitbart News has previously reported on a series of layoffs Intel has undertaken, slashing a considerable percentage of its workforce as it tries to regain its competitive advantage:
Intel, the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturer, revealed Thursday that it is nearing completion of a sweeping round of layoffs that will see its workforce shrink by approximately 22 percent compared to mid-2025 levels. The company, which employed around 96,000 people at the end of June, expects to lay off around 24,000 employees, finishing the year with about 75,000 after accounting for job cuts, attrition, and the sale of its Altera programmable chip business.
These cuts are part of a broader effort by CEO Lip-Bu Tan to streamline operations and drive efficiency at every level. In a note to employees, Tan acknowledged the difficulty of the past months, stating, “We are making hard but necessary decisions to streamline the organization, drive greater efficiency and increase accountability at every level of the company.” The layoffs, which began earlier this summer, have already impacted thousands in Oregon — Intel’s largest global site — where the local workforce now stands at its lowest point in a decade at around 17,600.
Read more at the Wall Street Journal here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
