Former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger joins ‘The Claman Countdown’ to respond to Intel’s CES chip announcement and President Trump’s support for expanding U.S. manufacturing.
Intel unveiled new milestones in chip production this week, but former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said the United States still has a long way to go to win back chip production from Asia.
“The metric [is] But how many waffles are built in America,” Gelsinger said Friday on “The Claman Countdown.”
“That’s all that matters,” he added.
Gelsinger’s warning comes as the Trump administration has moved to boost U.S. chip manufacturing, taking a stake in Intel and pushing to bring advanced semiconductor production back to U.S. soil.
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Patrick Gelsinger, former CEO of Intel Corp., will appear at the CES event in Las Vegas on January 9, 2024. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Much of the world’s advanced chip manufacturing remains concentrated in Asia, particularly Taiwan. U.S. officials have said the imbalance raises economic and national security concerns.
Gelsinger said it is critical that production returns to the United States, while cautioning that progress will take time.
“It’s hard to get that production back. You know it took decades to get to Asia. It’s not coming back anytime soon,” he said.
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President Donald Trump met with Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan at the White House this week, later praising the company on social media and calling the meeting “great.”
Lip-Bu Tan, CEO of Intel Corp., leaves after a meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, on August 11, 2025. (Alex Wroblewski/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
The president also said the US government is “proud to be an Intel shareholder.” In August, the US government took a nearly 10% stake in the chipmaker as part of a broader national security measure. Advanced computer chips are critical for the military, everyday electronics, and other industries to stay competitive in the AI race.
On Thursday, Tan responded to Trump’s praise, writing on
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Gelsinger said major chip designers like Nvidia and AMD should still commit to producing chips on American soil, calling these commitments part of Intel’s long-term strategy.
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“These all have to come back to the US foundry and the Intel foundry,” Gelsinger added.
“I’m certainly encouraged to see these milestones, but we have much more to do.”
Former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger discusses the race between the US and China for AI chip dominance, the proposed Safe Chips Act and more on ‘Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street.’
