Under Trump, business and politics are becoming bedfellows

Don’t combine business with pleasure — or the music of the spheres would possibly eject you from the skies even if you happen to are an astronomer — but it surely appears, within the present milieu, there are no such restrictions between business and politics.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is eyeing a stake in struggling chipmaker Intel, in response to a Bloomberg report on Thursday. That consideration is primarily attributable to Intel’s standing as the one born-and-bred American firm that may manufacture the quickest chips on U.S. soil.

While some corporations resembling Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Samsung, each of which might produce 3-nanometer chips — essentially the most superior semiconductors thus far — have factories within the U.S., they are Taiwanese and South Korean firms, respectively, and in all probability don’t take pleasure in apple pies on the Fourth of July.

In mixture with the information that Nvidia and AMD can pay the U.S. authorities a 15% share of their revenue from chip gross sales in China, in addition to Apple committing to make more chips in America, the Trump administration appears to be consolidating a chip empire with the White House as its capital.  

To modify a music final heard by the Astronomer CEO earlier than he was forged right down to Earth: “I used to rule the world / Chips would rise when I gave the word.”

— CNBC’s Kif Leswing contributed to this report

Germany’s Merz strikes sharp tone with Europe as he cozies up to Trump

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is seeking to redefine Germany’s voice in Europe and construct a relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump — whom a lot of Merz’s European colleagues don’t see eye to eye with.

The traditionally EU-friendly Merz, a former member of the European Parliament, now has an extended listing of complaints concerning the bloc.

— Sophie Kiderlin