Trump’s comments indicate a change of heart since last Thursday, when he called for Lip-Bu Tan to “resign immediately ” because he is “highly conflicted” via a post on Truth Social. Such conflicts of interest were outlined in a letter by Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton the day before, who alleged Tan “has deep ties to the Chinese Communists.”

A group of four former Intel board members called for Intel to split its chip manufacturing assets into a new independent company, supported by U.S. government funding, while leaving the fate of Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan to shareholders and the board.