Trump warms to Intel CEO after meeting

He recently urged Lip-Bu Tan to quit

- CECILIA KANG TRIPP MICKLE STUART A. THOMPSON

The chief executive of Intel, Lip-Bu Tan, met with President Donald Trump on Monday in an emergency mission to defuse scrutiny of his leadership of the embattled chip company, just days after the president called for his immediate resignation over supposed ties to China.

It seems to have worked.

After the afternoon meeting at the White House, Trump posted on Truth Social that his discussion with Mr Tan “was a very interesting one,” though he did not elaborate. Trump said that Mr Tan and Cabinet members would meet next week and “bring suggestions to me,’ adding that the Intel chief's “success and rise is an amazing story.”

Trump's post appeared to signal that he was changing his mind about any national security risk posed by Mr Tan, 65, who became Intel’s CEO in March. Trump's call last week for Mr Tan to resign, citing his past investments in Chinese companies, was one of the first times the president had attempted to directly intervene to change the leadership at a major publicly traded company.

Trump’s comments demanding a change in Intel’s leadership — he had said Mr Tan was “highly CONFLICTED” and needed to step down — had elicited criticism from some in the business community, who said the president was abusing his power by reaching into boardrooms.

“This is not normal. It’s not OK,” said Gigi Sohn, the former head of consumer group Public Knowledge and former senior official of the Federal Communications Commission. “This kind of intense interference into business practices is unheard of by Democrats and Republicans alike.”