U.S. President Donald Trump today called on Intel Corp. Chief Executive Officer Lip-Bu Tan to resign.

“The CEO of INTEL is highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social social media platform. “There is no other solution to this problem. Thank you for your attention to this problem!”

The post came hours after Republican Senator Tom Cotton sent a letter to Intel board chair Frank Yeary. In the letter, Cotton asked what steps Intel took to ensure that Tan doesn’t have any conflicts of interest. The missive focused on the executive’s investments in Chinese companies and his tenure at Cadence Design Systems Inc., a major provider of chip development software.

Tan led Cadence as CEO for more than a decade before taking the helm at Intel this past March. During his tenure, the software maker’s revenue doubled and its stock price gained more than 3,000%. Cotton’s letter expressed concerns about an incident in which Cadence violated U.S. sanctions by selling chip design software to a Chinese military university.

The other focus of Cotton’s letter was Tan’s investment portfolio. Earlier this year, Reuters reported that Tan had bought stakes worth at least $200 million in Chinese manufacturing and chip companies between 2012 and 2024. The executive is a long-time startup investor who launched venture capital firm Walden International in 1987.

Trump’s post today shaved 3.2% off Intel’s stock price, which was already down significantly from its 52-week high over business performance concerns. Tan launched a broad restructuring initiative earlier this year to turn the company around.

Last month, Intel announced plans to let go 15% of its employees in a bid to boost operational efficiency. The workforce reduction will see the company lay off up to a fifth of its manufacturing personnel. Intel’s foundry business, which manufactures chips for other companies, has lost billions of dollars in recent quarters.

The company is developing a new chip production process called A14 that is set to come online in 2028 or 2029. Intel has warned that it may pause or discontinue A14 unless it secures a significant external customer for the process. Tan told employees in a July memo that “there are no more blank checks. Every investment must make economic sense.”

As part of Tan’s push to boost financial performance, Intel is also spinning off two business units. The company recently inked a $3.4 billion deal to sell a majority stake in its Altera field-programmable gate array subsidiary. Intel plans to take a similar approach with its NEX business, which develops chips for data center networking equipment and 5G base stations.

Photo: Intel