Apple in, Intel out: Trump remakes the US tech industry to MAGA specs

The TOI correspondent from Washington: In an ominous sign for foreign-born CEOs of globalized American tech companies, MAGA supremo Donald Trump on Thursday asked the Malaysia-born CEO of Intel, Lip-Bu Tan, to "resign immediately," reportedly for his ties to China, hours after declaring "Apple is coming back home (to the US)."

"The CEO of INTEL is highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately. There is no other solution to this problem. Thank you for your attention to this problem!" Trump posted on social media platform without elaborating on the problem. This came after he had brought the tech giant Apple to heel at a White House event on Wednesday, demanding it make all its products start to finish in the US rather than in foreign countries.

While he did not mention China or India, which now assembles almost all the newer model iPhones for the US market, Apple CEO Tim Cook politely demurred, saying the company is already making much of its cutting edge technology in America and phones were only being assembled abroad, while suggesting it will take time to pivot the entire manufacturing process to the U.S.

A fawning Cook also presented to Trump a unique glass made by Corning mounted in a 24-karat gold base designed by a former U.S. Marine Corps corporal who now works at Apple, a gift that visibly pleased the President who has festooned the Oval Office with gold-plated objects and themes.

Trump's unprecedented demand -- or directive -- that the Intel CEO resign follows questions raised by Republican Senator Tom Cotton about Bu Tan's ties with the Chinese military even as the company received $8 billion under the Biden-era Chips Act.

In a letter sent to Intel's board and its Chairman Frank Leary, Cotton wrote that he is concerned “about the security and integrity of Intel’s operations and its potential impact on US national security,” given Tan's past role at Cadence Design, which recently faced a criminal case for exporting chip design tools to a Chinese military university during Tan’s tenure as CEO.
He sought to know if the board was aware of subpoenas targeting Cadence Design – which also has operations in India and which Tan ran from 2008 to 2021 before he joined Intel, which also has a large presence in India.

Tan, 66, a Malaysian born in Johor, grew up in Singapore before he come to the US to earn Master of Science in nuclear engineering from MIT and an MBA from the University of San Francisco. He is now an American citizen.

Trump demanded his resignation even before Tan had replied to Cotton, who had sought responses by August 15.

While Trump has openly demanded that companies like Apple and Tesla refrain from investing and manufacturing in India and other foreign countries, he has been more accommodating of Microsoft, Google, and IBM -- all of which have India-born CEOs who have made a bee-line to the White House in recent months. India is not just a talent pools these companies feed off but it is also a huge market.

But some of Trump's more nativist America First hardliners have begun ratcheting up suspicion about foreign-born executives, questioning their commitment to the US and arguing there is enough talent in America to meet the needs of the tech industry without foreign students or workers. Asked at the White House event whether the US had enough skilled tech workers to meet the industry's needs, Trump suggested Apple itself could be training the work force it needs in America.