So much for the GOP's "free market." Just days after the U.S. government took a 10% stake in Intel, Donald Trump's economic advisor Kevin Hassett revealed that more companies can expect the same.
"Yes, that's absolutely right," Hassett said this morning when asked by CNBC if we should expect the Trump administration to continue taking partial ownership of U.S. businesses. But, Hassett assured us in the most twisted MAGA speak yet, "the government is going to stay out of it." (See video below, posted by Aaron Rupar.)
In other words, the government is going to mind their own business by owning it. Now it makes sense!
Hassett said previously the money was "going out and disappearing into the ether."
He also said "we're absolutely not in the business of picking winners and losers." However, the U.S. is now Intel's largest single shareholder. The administration has also took a "golden share" in U.S. Steel as part of approving its merger with Japan's Nippon Steel. Trump also said he negotiated with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to take a 15% cut of the chipmaker's revenue from some chips sold in China. Trump also has a similar deal with rival chipmaker AMD.
After Hassett's interview Trump took to Truth Social to say: "I PAID ZERO FOR INTEL, IT IS WORTH APPROXIMATELY 11 BILLION DOLLARS. All goes to the USA." He also said he would "help those companies that make such lucrative deals with the United States."
It was unclear why the president said the U.S. did not pay anything for the stake. The government purchased 433.3 million Intel shares at $20.47 each, which equates to $8.9 billion.
Previously: The Oligarch Game: use coin-tosses to demonstrate "winner take all" and its power to warp perceptions
