President personally negotiates the U.S. government a 10% stake in Intel; this is somehow not socialism.

OK. I have stories. Pay attention.

Three weeks ago, the President of the United States demanded the resignation of the CEO of Intel over the CEO’s prior business ties to companies in China. Resign. Out. Done. That was the order. On Truth Social. At full volume.

The CEO did not resign. The CEO got on a plane. The CEO came to the White House. The CEO sat down with the President. They had a conversation. Then a deal happened.

The deal: the United States government would buy 10 percent of Intel. Ten percent. Of one of the largest semiconductor companies in the country. $8.9 billion. 433 million shares at $20.47. The funding for this stake comes substantially out of money that was already promised to Intel under the CHIPS Act, plus money from a Defense Department program. So the government is buying ten percent of Intel with money that was already going to Intel. As a grant. Now it is equity. The same dollars wearing a different jacket.

I have run a casino floor. I have made deals. The structure is what’s called a flip. The other guy was going to get the money. You take the money back. You hand him the money in exchange for a piece of his business. He looks down. The piece of his business and the money are roughly the same number. He keeps the cash, plus he has a partner he didn’t ask for.

Now. I do not have an objection in principle to industrial policy. The country needs domestic chip production. We learned that in COVID. Fine. But this is the same political party that, two years ago, called industrial policy socialism and the takeover of the economy. Same suits. Same lapel pins. Same talk show hosts. The deal Tuesday looks like the deal they would have called the apocalypse if a Democrat had signed it.

And the President? Personal credit, full credit, on stage. Like he invented the chip.

Buddy. We bought 9.9 percent of a publicly traded American company. That is a thing that happened on a Friday. The world did not end. The world also did not get a memo.

I’m arguing with the television.