Trump Announces Apple-Intel US Chip Deal, Sending Intel Shares Surging 10%

A late-night post that moved markets

In a Truth Social post on Thursday night, President Donald Trump announced that Apple has agreed to work with Intel to design and manufacture chips in the United States, sending Intel shares surging as much as 10% in early trading and pushing the company's market capitalization to $608.7 billioncnbc. The announcement came as a surprise even to some Intel executives, though the two companies had been engaged in quiet discussions for months, according to a person familiar with the mattersemafor. Apple and Intel both declined to comment publicly on the deal.

Trump framed the agreement as the latest win in his campaign to rebuild American semiconductor independence. "Stupid Presidents took our Economy for granted, and let Taiwan and others steal our Semiconductor Factories," he wrote, before adding: "Apple has agreed to work with Intel to design and build its Chips in America."cnbc +1

Intel's remarkable reversal of fortune

The announcement caps a stunning resurgence for a company widely written off just two years ago. Intel's stock has surged 464% over the past 12 months, driven by a series of politically engineered partnershipscnbc. The U.S. government took a 10% stake in Intel for $8.9 billion last year, a position now worth roughly $67 billionsemafor +1. That investment gave Washington both financial leverage and strong incentive to steer tech giants toward Intel's foundry business.

Before Apple, Trump's administration helped broker a $5 billion Nvidia stake in Intel and secured Elon Musk's commitment to build "Terafab" — described as the world's largest chip factory — using Intel's manufacturing technologycnbc +1. CEO Lip-Bu Tan, who took the helm in early 2025, has been credited with steadying the company after years of manufacturing delays and lost market sharecnbc.

What Apple gets — and what it doesn't

The deal is significant but scoped. Intel is not expected to produce Apple's most advanced silicon — not chips for the iPhone 18 Pro lineup, nor M5 or later Mac processorsappleinsider. Those remain in TSMC's domain. Intel will most likely manufacture older or lower-end chips, potentially M-series variants for iPad Pro and MacBook Air, or processors for non-Pro iPhonesappleinsider.

The strategic logic for Apple is clear: TSMC has been stretched thin by explosive AI-driven demand from Nvidia and AMD, and Apple has already lost its position as TSMC's largest customerreuters +1. That crunch has reportedly contributed to delayed Mac product launches and supply constraints, pushing Apple toward building a more resilient, diversified supply chain.

Intel's 18A-P process — most likely involved in any Apple production — is only now entering limited-scale testing, meaning significant chip volumes are unlikely before mid-2027 at the earliestappleinsider. The Nasdaq PHLX Semiconductor Sector Index has risen 90% this yearcnbc, reflecting broader market confidence in the domestic chip bet Washington is now doubling down on.