After Intel, US government buying stake in world’s most valuable technology company; US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gives an ‘update’
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has clarified that President Donald Trump’s administration is not buying a stake in Nvidia. He said that after making a deal with Intel last week, the admin is looking to acquire a stake in other industries, but not Nvidia for now. “Are you considering taking stakes in further semiconductor companies, I mean, with the president? Consider taking a stake in Nvidia,” Fox Business’s Maria Bartiromo asked. Bessen replied saying:“I don’t think Nvidia needs financial support. So, you know, that that seems, not on the table right now, but could there be other industries, where you know, that we’re reshaping, something like shipbuilding, that. Sure. There could be things like that. And these are critical industries that we have to, we have to be self-sufficient in the United States”.The US government recently acquired a 10% stake in chipmaker Intel for $8.9 billion. It will buy 433.3 million Intel shares using $5.7 billion from CHIPS Act grants and $3.2 billion from the Secure Enclave program. When Bartiromo asked about the Intel stake deal and if similar deals are on the table, Scott Bessent said“President Trump is going to be the only president in modern times who creates assets for the American people rather than debt. And, we looked he saw that Intel had been given grants and wanted to know why the American taxpayer wouldn’t participate in the upside. So there’s $11 billion of immediate value. And I think there’s a very good chance here that it could be much more”.
Covid-19 exposed weaknesses in America’s supply chains
During the Fox interview, the official acknowledged that the Covid-19 pandemic revealed weaknesses in America’s supply chains, stating it was almost a “beta” test for a “kinetic war.”“Think about it, 80-90% of the precursor pharma products are made overseas. And that’s just unacceptable because, you know, as we saw during Covid, the manufacturing countries will keep it for themselves,” Scott Bessent said.
