Jim Cramer Says Trump’s Call For Lip-Bu Tan’s Resignation Is 'Incredibly Salient' For Intel

Jim Cramer on Thursday called President Donald Trump’s calling for the resignation of Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan “incredibly salient” to the company’s future. 

In a post on X, the CNBC host said, “Lip Bu Tan is incredibly important to the turn at Intel,” highlighting Tan’s influence as a longtime semiconductor investor and executive. 

Intel’s stock edged 0.6% lower in midday trade. The stock was among the top trending tickers on Stocktwits at the time of writing. However, retail doesn’t seem to be bearing down. Platform data showed that retail sentiment around the chip designer had jumped to ‘extremely bullish’ from ‘neutral’ a day ago amid ‘high’ levels of chatter.

Trump on Friday said that the CEO of Intel should resign, calling Lip-Bu Tan ‘highly conflicted.’ “There is no other solution to this problem,” he said in a post on Truth Social, after Senator Tom Cotton raised concerns about Tan’s connections with Chinese companies hurting national security on Wednesday.

Since taking the helm at Intel, Tan has been focused on the company’s turnaround efforts. At the company’s annual Vision conference in April, Tan outlined plans to streamline Intel’s operations by divesting non-core businesses and concentrating resources on areas where the company can excel. He noted that Intel will focus on its core technologies and expand them as well, while freeing up non-core business.

A part of that included streamlining the company’s work culture. In a letter to shareholders after Intel’s second-quarter (Q2) results, Tan announced that Intel plans to reduce its headcount by 15% and end the year with 75,000 employees as part of its workforce.

If Tan were to resign, he wouldn’t be the first executive to step down amid tensions with Trump. Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner left her post in March after the U.S. Department of Transportation threatened to cut federal funding for projects that failed to meet new mandates, according to Reuters. Two months later, CBS News chief executive Wendy McMahon resigned following pressure from parent company Paramount Global. The move came after Trump sued the network over an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, alleging it had been unfairly edited.

Read also: Trump Pushes For Intel CEO Resignation, Says He’s ‘Highly Conflicted’

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