Trump Announces Apple Will Partner with Intel to Design and Manufacture Chips in the U.S.

Miles Bennett
Published 2026-06-18About 6 min read

Trump said Apple has agreed to work with Intel to design and manufacture chips on U.S. soil — if confirmed, this would break Apple's long reliance on TSMC and hand Intel's foundry business its most important customer yet.

01

What exactly was announced?

Trump posted on Truth Social on June 18, claiming Apple has agreed to partner with Intel to design and build chips in the United States.
This is the most direct public statement yet on Apple chip production moving onshore.
Neither Apple nor Intel has officially confirmed. The sole source is the president's personal social media.
02

Who makes Apple's chips today?

Apple's in-house A-series (iPhone) and M-series (Mac) chips are all manufactured by TSMC.
Production sites are in Taiwan and TSMC's Arizona fab.
This means → a shift to Intel would be a supply-chain-level reorientation, not just swapping one factory for another.
03

What would Intel gain?

Intel is pushing hard to grow its foundry business (Intel Foundry), but the core problem is a lack of heavyweight external customers to share massive process-development costs.
Landing Apple would give Intel's foundry strategy its strongest credibility boost.
In plain terms = Intel's foundry is like a new restaurant — what it needs most is a marquee customer to prove the kitchen works.
04

Why is Trump pushing this?

Trump has repeatedly pressured Apple to bring manufacturing back to the U.S.
Apple previously pledged $500 billion in U.S. investment over four years, but whether chip fabrication is included remains unclear.
This reflects the White House trying to pin Apple's spending commitment to the hardest link — chip manufacturing — rather than data centers or assembly lines alone.
05

What is still unknown?

Whether Trump's statement translates into an actual commercial contract awaits confirmation from both companies.
The scope (which chips, what process node) and timeline have not been disclosed.
This means → until Apple and Intel speak officially, this is closer to a political signal than a settled business fact.

Content is for reference only, not financial advice.