In an interview with Yahoo Finance, the former U.S. Treasury Secretary recalled the Trump administration’s recent decisions, including picking up a stake in US Steel, and its reported extraction of free work from law firms.
Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers on Tuesday reportedly said he was surprised by the Trump administration picking up a 10% stake in Intel Corp. (INTC) in exchange for CHIPS Act funding.
In an interview with Yahoo Finance, Summers criticized President Donald Trump’s decision, saying this was “extraordinarily problematic.” The former U.S. Treasury Secretary recalled the Trump administration’s recent decisions, including picking up a stake in US Steel, and its reported extraction of free work from law firms.
“It comes as part of a general approach to policy… what you might call deals-based capitalism rather than rules-based capitalism,” he said. “The rather remarkable and I think extraordinarily problematic transaction with Intel, where they were given more export controls freedom in return for payments to the government,” Summers added.
Intel’s shares were down 0.2% during Tuesday’s pre-market trade. Retail sentiment on Stocktwits around the company was in the ‘bullish’ territory.
Earlier on Monday, President Donald Trump touted the Intel deal as a win for the U.S. that cost taxpayers nothing. “I PAID ZERO FOR INTEL, IT IS WORTH APPROXIMATELY 11 BILLION DOLLARS. All goes to the USA,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social, adding that he would make deals like these “all day long.”
White House Economic Advisor Kevin Hassett compared the Intel stake to making a down payment on a sovereign wealth fund. Hassett also said that the Trump administration could pick up stakes in companies similar to the Intel deal detailed last Friday.
INTC stock is up 22% year-to-date and over the past 12 months.
For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.<