Could the U.S. Government Be Considering Buying a Stake in Intel?

Summary

WSJ What’s News: Detailed Summary of "Could the U.S. Government Be Considering Buying a Stake in Intel?"

Release Date: August 15, 2025
Host: Azhar Sukri
Podcast: WSJ What’s News by The Wall Street Journal

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1. US-Russia Summit in Alaska: Diverging Agendas

The episode opens with a significant focus on the high-stakes summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, set against the backdrop of ongoing tensions in Ukraine.

• Trump’s Stance on the Ukraine Conflict:

  President Trump emphasizes his role in the Ukraine situation, asserting his influence over Russia's actions. At [00:11], Trump declares:

  "It's a war that should have never happened if I weren't president. In my opinion, he would much rather take off, take over all of Ukraine. But I am president and he's not going to mess around with me."

  In a subsequent discussion at [01:37], Trump elaborates on the summit's objectives:

  "I think it's going to be a good meeting... We're going to see what happens. And I think President Putin will make peace, I think President Zelensky will make peace."

• Contrasting Perspectives on Negotiations:

  The Wall Street Journal correspondent, Thomas Grove, offers a deeper analysis at [02:13], highlighting Putin's long-term strategy:

  "One of the most important things that this does for Russia and Putin right now is that it prolongs peace talks... They want international recognition for the gains that they've made on the battlefield and continue to make on the battlefield."

  Grove suggests that while Trump aims for a swift resolution, Putin is inclined to extend negotiations to solidify Russia's position without facing further sanctions.

• Military Realities on the Ground:

  Later in the episode, Marcus Walker, the South Europe bureau chief, provides insights into the bleak prospects for a ceasefire. At [08:53], Walker states:

  "For Putin, it's about more than just territory... his strategic goals... go much, much further."

  He further explains the grueling nature of the conflict, comparing it to a mix of World War I tactics and high-tech drone warfare, underscoring the heavy toll on both Russian and Ukrainian forces.

2. Potential U.S. Government Stake in Intel: A Shift in Tech Policy

A significant portion of the episode delves into the Trump administration's consideration of acquiring a financial stake in Intel, marking a notable departure from traditional business practices.

• Trump’s Pressure on Intel Leadership:

  President Trump has called for Intel CEO Lip Bhutan’s resignation, citing conflicts of interest due to Bhutan's investments in Chinese technology firms. At [05:09], reporter Stu Wu elaborates:

  "President Trump discussed this idea during a meeting at the White House on Monday with Intel CEO Lip Bhutan... If it did happen, it would be unprecedented, the US government taking an active role in a private company."

• Rationale Behind the Potential Investment:

  Stu Wu provides context at [06:01], explaining the administration's motives:

  "The US Government believes the military battles of the future are going to be won via artificial intelligence... The issue is that the US really doesn't make its own computer chips. Right now, Intel is their best shot at doing that."

  He underscores the strategic importance of securing domestic chip production to bolster national security and advance the "America First" manufacturing agenda.

• Broader Intervention in the Tech Sector:

  The discussion extends to Trump’s proactive measures in the technology industry. Wu notes:

  "Trump has been far more interventionist in the tech sector than his predecessors... He recently got Nvidia and AMD... to pay the government 15% of their sales to China in exchange for exporting these really coveted chips."

  This approach emphasizes the administration's intent to exert greater governmental control over private tech companies to safeguard American interests.

3. Washington, D.C. Police Reform and Federal Intervention

The episode touches on internal U.S. politics, specifically President Trump's moves to assert federal control over Washington, D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department.

• Appointment of Terry Cole:

  Attorney General Pam Bondi has appointed Terry Cole, head of the DEA, as the emergency police commissioner for D.C., requiring local police to seek Cole’s approval for orders.

• Local Government’s Pushback:

  In response, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser criticizes the federal takeover, stating at [03:03]:

  "There was, quote, no statute that conveys the district's personnel authority to a federal official."

  This tension highlights the broader conflict between federal authority and local governance in the capital.

4. Apple’s Technological Developments and Berkshire Hathaway’s Moves

Shifting focus to the technology sector, the episode covers Apple’s reinstatement of a key feature and Berkshire Hathaway’s investment strategies.

• Apple Watch’s Blood Oxygen Feature Returns:

  After a two-year hiatus due to patent disputes with Masimo, Apple has reintroduced the blood oxygen monitoring feature in select Apple Watch models, enhancing their health-tracking capabilities.

• Berkshire Hathaway’s Investment Shifts:

  Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has reduced its holdings in Apple while increasing its investment in UnitedHealth Group, indicating a strategic realignment of its portfolio.

5. Prospects for Peace in Ukraine and Ongoing Conflict

Returning to the Ukraine conflict, the episode evaluates the potential outcomes of the Trump-Putin summit.

• Territorial Compromises and Ceasefire Challenges:

  Marcus Walker assesses the likelihood of territorial concessions by Ukraine in exchange for peace. At [10:39], Walker expresses skepticism:

  "It would be a big surprise. Much as the Ukrainians are tired... Putin has not got the result he wants yet..."

  He emphasizes that without significant pressure on Russia to adjust its political objectives, the war is far from resolution.

• Human and Technological Costs:

  The protracted nature of the conflict, marked by high casualties and advanced drone warfare, continues to strain both nations, with little sign of imminent peace.

Conclusion

In this episode of WSJ What’s News, Azhar Sukri navigates through a complex web of international diplomacy, technological intervention, and internal U.S. politics. The potential U.S. government stake in Intel represents a pivotal shift in government-business relations, reflecting broader themes of national security and economic strategy. Concurrently, the fragile prospects for peace in Ukraine underscore the persistent global tensions that shape market movements and geopolitical stability. Through expert analysis and firsthand reporting, the episode provides listeners with a comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing today's most pressing news stories.

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Produced by Daniel Bock | Supervising Producer: Piers Lynch

Transcript

[Azhar Sukri]

Talking tough, President Trump throws down a challenge to his Russian counterpart ahead of their high stakes summit in Alaska.

[Donald Trump]

It's a war that should have never happened if I weren't president. In my opinion, he would much rather take off, take over all of Ukraine. But I am president and he's not going to mess around with me.

[Azhar Sukri]

Plus, could the US Government take a stake in Intel? We report on another possible departure from business as usual under Trump. Trump and Apple brings back blood oxygen monitoring to some of its watches. It's Friday, August 15th. I'm Azhar Sukri for the Wall Street Journal. Here is the AM edition of what's news, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. President Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will arrive in Alaska today with two very different goals in mind. How to end the war in Ukraine. After initially playing down the summit as a way to feel out Putin's position, Trump in recent days has said he would urge Putin to accept a ceasefire, seeking to jumpstart long stalled negotiations for Putin. The aim when the leaders meet at an airbase outside of Anchorage will be to stay in Trump's good graces while still trying to reassert Moscow's dominance over Kyiv. Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said he wants to bring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into the talks.

[Donald Trump]

I think it's going to be a good meeting, but the more important meeting will be the second meeting that we're having. We're going to have a meeting with President Putin, President Zelensky, myself, and maybe we'll bring some of the European leaders along, maybe not. It's, I don't know that it's going to be very important. We're going to see what happens. And I think President Putin will make peace, I think President Zelensky will make peace. We'll see if they can get along and if they can, it'll be great.

[Azhar Sukri]

But while Trump is aiming to move quickly to bring an end to the war, Journal correspondent Thomas Grove says Putin will be happy to play the long game.

[Thomas Grove]

One of the most important things that this does for Russia and Putin right now is that it prolongs peace talks. It basically extends the amount of time during which Russia can show that it's being a good partner in peace talks and that it wants to move forward towards peace without getting sanctioned. Trump has threatened sanctions more and more in the past as he's become visibly frustrated with Russia. For Trump is ultimately showing the United States and the rest of the world that he was able to clinch a very hard to attain peace between Russia and Ukraine. He's telegraphed that his own expectations for that may be low. When it comes to Russia, they want to see relations normalize as much as they can be between the US and Russia. They want international recognition for the gains that they've made on the battlefield and continue to make on the battlefield.

[Azhar Sukri]

And coming up later in the show, we'll look at how the military situation on the ground may force Ukraine to reluctantly give up territory to Russia in exchange for peace. In Washington, Attorney General Pam Bondi has tapped Terry Cole, the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, as the so called emergency police commissioner to lead the city's Metropolitan Police Department. Bondi said in a directive that the local police must receive approval from Cole before issuing any orders, leading city officials to reject President Trump's latest move to tighten his grip on DC's local police force. Responding to the order in a social media post, Mayor Muriel Bowser said there was, quote, no statute that conveys the district's personnel authority to a federal official. Trump sent the National Guard to the city for a least a month, while Bondi has also opened the door for ice, or Immigration and Customs Enforcement to take a more active role in the capital. Intel and the Trump administration are discussing the possibility of the US Government taking a financial stake in the troubled chipmaker. That's according to people familiar with the matter. Last week, Trump called for CEO Lip Bhutan to step down, describing him as being, quote, highly conflicted. That was a reference to Tan's wet of investments in Chinese technology companies. Journal reporter Stu Wu says the deal could advance the president's America first manufacturing agenda while relieving political pressure on the company's beleaguered chief executive. Stu, what do we know so far about this pretty unusual proposal?

[Stu Wu]

So President Trump discussed this idea during a meeting at the White House on Monday with Intel CEO Lip Bhutan. And that's according to my colleague's reporting. And these talks are in really early stages right now. They could still fall apart. If it did happen, it would be unprecedented, the US government taking an active role in a private company.

[Azhar Sukri]

Why is Trump describing Tan as being conflicted?

[Stu Wu]

In this case, Lipp Bhutan is known as Mr. Chip, but that's not because of what he's done in America. He was a venture capitalist who invested in a lot of chip companies that have become some of the biggest and most important in China. So that's number one. The second thing is that more recently he spent 12 years as CEO of a Silicon company called Cadence and a couple Weeks ago, Cadence pled guilty to selling illegal technology to a Chinese military university. And that happened during Khan's tenure. And so Trump is implying, hey, Intel's one of the most important chip companies in America. Can we trust this guy to lead it?

[Azhar Sukri]

Intel is definitely one of the most important companies in America. As you say, Trump has been far more interventionist in the tech sector than his predecessors. Tell us more about that.

[Stu Wu]

So I think there are two things happening here. The first thing is that the US Government believes the military battles of the future are going to be won via artificial intelligence. AI helps design nuclear weapons, fighter jets, missiles, things like that. And the thing that powers the best AI are cutting edge computer chips. The issue is that the US really doesn't make its own computer chips. Right now, intel is their best shot at doing that. So they really want to ensure that if something happens to America's trading partners, that they can produce the best computer chips in America itself. So that's number one. The second thing is that Trump has just taken a more active stance in the matters of private companies. So he recently got Nvidia and AMD, two other chip companies, to pay the government 15% of their sales to China in exchange for exporting these really coveted chips. He also approved a recent deal between a Japanese steel company buying an American one. But the US Government has a golden share, they have some say into how it operates. So the US Government under the Trump administration is really saying, hey, these things steal advanced computer chips. That really matters to American national security. So we wanted to have a say as to how you run your private companies.

[Azhar Sukri]

Journal reporter Stu Wu. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us today.

[Stu Wu]

Thanks for having me.

[Azhar Sukri]

Now, here's a bit of good news. If you're an Apple Watch user and have been missing its blood oxygen feature, it's back nearly two years after Apple removed the capability due to a bruising patent dispute with medical tech firm Masimo. Though the US Giant has reinstated it in some models, Apple said users of some models of The Watch Series 9 and 10, as well as the Ultra 2, would be able to use the redesigned feature following a software update. A spokesman for Massimo didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Staying with Apple, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway sold shares in the iPhone maker during the second quarter, further reducing its stake. That's according to a regulatory filing by Berkshire yesterday. At the same. At the same time, the Omaha, Nebraska company added insurer UnitedHealth Group to its portfolio. Coming up with Ukraine on the back foot militarily in its war with Russia. We look at how the Trump Putin meeting could affect prospects for peace. That story after the break. Now, as we heard earlier, one of the main sticking points in today's summit between President Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin is likely to be the issue of Ukrainian territory. As the Journal's South Europe bureau chief, Marcus Walker says, a ceasefire remains a long shot despite the meeting. That's because Putin is demanding that Ukraine retreat from strategically vital regions, a demand that Kyiv and its European allies flatly reject.

[Marcus Walker]

For Putin, it's about more than just territory. Putin's deeper goal here has been to reimpose political control over Ukraine that is not only gobble up large swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine, but recreate Russia's former and lost political sway over the rump of Ukraine, while also revising the ending of the Cold War and taking a big step towards rebuilding Russia's sphere of influence deep into Eastern Europe. So his strategic goals, which he sees as a kind of historic mission, go much, much further. And for Ukraine and for the Europeans, it's really about limiting this. Now, Ukraine at this point is coming around to accept the bitter reality that they lacked the strength to get all of their territory back, potentially forever. They've basically implicitly admitted that might well be the outcome in this call between the Europeans. And Trump, Zelenskyy and the others were saying, look, first we have a ceasefire, then we'll talk about territory. So by saying he's willing to talk about territory, he's admitting he's not going to get it all back. As for the bigger picture, well, it's pretty much as it has been for the past two years, really. The Russians are grinding forward slowly and at a very, very high cost in lives in killed and wounded men, while the Ukrainians are also suffering losses, less so, but at a level that they are struggling to replace. So the dynamic over time is not at all favourable for Ukraine. The war has been compared by many people to a mix of World War I and high tech drones. I made a long tour of almost the entire front line in the south, east and the north last month. And yeah, it's a combination of very old fashioned, extremely gruesome and gruelling infantry fighting with artillery and other conventional forms of power. But in the sky, an increasingly sophisticated war of drones using all sorts of advanced technology, including AI.

[Azhar Sukri]

So, Markus, finally, is this summit going to be able to end the war?

[Marcus Walker]

It would be a big surprise. Much as the Ukrainians are tired, the Europeans would love to move on. Trump would love to get a deal and move on, but Putin has not got the result he wants yet, which is to reimpose political control over Ukraine. And if Russia sticks to its broader political goals, then unfortunately, we are a long way from the end of the war because nobody is yet putting enough pressure on Russia to rethink and to scale down those political goals.

[Azhar Sukri]

That's Journal South Europe bureau chief Marcus Walker. Marcus, thank you so much for your time.

[Marcus Walker]

Thank you.

[Azhar Sukri]

And that's it for what's news for this Friday morning. Today's show was produced by Daniel Bock. Our supervising producer is Piers Lynch. I'm Azhar Sucri for the Wall Street. We'll be back tonight with a new show. Until then, have a great weekend. And thanks for listening.