The United States government made a $72 billion profit from a deal with Intel.
Posted by Badlands Media, Checked
- Sources
- 7 contradict3 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 60%
Badlands MediaOct 15, 2026
The claim that the U.S. government made a $72 billion profit from its Intel deal is grossly overstated.
What was said
… Think of them. I got them to go to New York, and the governor of New York hates me, and yet I'm making her look good, but she's radical left. Also, you know, I do these deals, and do I get credit? No, I get no credit. You know, I said the other day, I did all these deals with Intel. You saw we made $72 billion profit. I did a deal with Intel. Our country made a $72 billion profit. Nobody ever writes about it. The fake news doesn't write about it. And I look around the office. I'm loaded up with people. I say, "I don't get any credit for anything. I made $72 billion on TikTok. You know who number one on TikTok is? Trump. …
Badlands Media · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Contradicts. Reporting on the Intel stake puts the government's paper gain at about $18.9 billion after the late-October 2026 share rout, and the stake was still more than three times its cost, far below $72 billion.[3][4]
Contradicts. The stake's peak value was about $61 billion, implying a peak paper gain of roughly $50 billion over the roughly $11 billion invested, which still falls short of $72 billion.[5]
Contradicts. The government's investment was $8.9 billion in common stock funded by previously awarded grants, with $11.1 billion total, so the claimed $72 billion profit is several times the size of the entire investment.[1][2]
Contradicts. Fact-checking coverage of Trump's $72 billion figure notes that he gave no data or methodology and did not distinguish announced commitments from money actually spent.[6][7]
Context. Treasury Secretary Bessent claimed the Intel stake had returned about $50 billion to the Treasury, a figure that is also unverified and differs from the $72 billion claim.[8]
Context. Trump's own earlier estimate was that the U.S. was up $30 to $40 billion on the deal, and sources describe any gains as unrealized paper gains rather than realized profit.[9][10]
Sources
10 sources: 1 fact-checker, 1 primary, 8 not rated
- 1Trump's Intel stake sparks cries of 'socialism' from his party ...apnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: contradicts
- 2Intel and Trump Administration Reach Historic Agreementsec.gov · primary source · cited for: contradicts
- 3Intel Stock Rout Wipes $12 Billion Off Uncle Sam’s Staketradingview.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 4Intel's drop shaves about $10 billion off the US government's equity ...finance.yahoo.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 5Trump administration bets $30b on private firms in semiconductors, critical minerals and quantum computingbiz.heraldcorp.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 6Trump claims US to make 50% of world's chips after TSMC's $265bn Arizona betnationpress.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 7Trump says chips, medicines coming back to USianslive.in · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 8Treasury Sec. Bessent says U.S. Intel gains could help finance Trump's $5k payoutsrmb.reuters.com · not rated · cited for: context
- 9Trump says Intel has made a 'fortune' and America has made $40 billion after the US invested in ailing chipmaker — Intel has gained $73 billion in market cap since investmenttomshardware.com · not rated · cited for: context
- 10Intel rallies after forecast signals a comeback Is underwayeastbaytimes.com · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- The United States government made a $10 billion profit on TikTok.True
- The United States government hands out 79 billion dollars every January to poor people.False
- The Trump administration leveraged export controls to secure profit-sharing arrangements with AMD and NVIDIA for chip sales to China.True
- The Biden administration received less than 1 trillion dollars in new investment into the United States over a 15-month period.Can’t tell
- The United States government pays online influencers $7,000 per post to influence public opinion.Can’t tell