WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Friday announced the US government has secured a 10 percent stake in struggling Silicon Valley pioneer Intel in a deal that was completed just a couple weeks after he was depicting the company’s CEO as a conflicted leader unfit for the job. “The United States of America now fully owns and controls 10 percent of INTEL, a Great American Company that has an even more incredible future,” Trump wrote in a post. The US government is getting the stake through the conversion of $11.1 billion in previously issued funds and pledges.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC that the government has no intention of meddling in Intel's business, and will have its hands tied by holding non-voting shares.

The new stake in the tech giant aims to increase US semiconductor chip production.