Apple has agreed to work with Intel to design and manufacture its chips in the United States. The announcement came on Thursday, June 18, 2026, from US President Donald Trump, in what amounts to a significant boost to the American tech giant’s efforts to revive its business.

A potential order from Apple would give Intel steady demand from one of the world’s largest consumer-electronics groups, with benefits to both its reputation and revenue at a moment when the company is trying to close the gap with rival TSMC, the global leader in contract chip manufacturing.

Apple and Intel: the deal to make chips in the United States

For Apple, the agreement would help diversify its production base and expand its semiconductor supply capacity at a time when its key partner TSMC is under pressure from surging demand from AI chipmakers such as Nvidia and AMD.

Asked by Reuters, Apple and Intel did not immediately provide a comment. Intel shares, however, rose 7% on Thursday, touching an all-time high, on top of a rally that has already tripled their value since the start of the year, while Apple stock gained 0.8%.

According to a May report by the Wall Street Journal, Intel had reached a preliminary agreement to make some components for Apple after more than a year of negotiations.

Trump’s remarks on Intel’s turnaround

In a post on Truth Social, Trump leveled a sharp attack at his predecessors, blaming them for the loss of domestic semiconductor-fabrication plants. «Stupid presidents took our economy for granted and let Taiwan and others steal our semiconductor factories,» the president wrote, before adding: «Apple has agreed to work with Intel to design and build its chips in America.»

Trump explained the reasons behind his commitment to the company, in which the US government holds a 10% stake. «I decided to help Intel because we need to design and build our own chips right here in America,» he said.

The president then listed the steps already taken to strengthen the domestic chip industry. «First, we helped bring in Nvidia, which agreed to build its top-tier chips with Intel,» he said. «Then Elon agreed to build his TerraFab, the largest chip factory in the world, designed together with Intel’s technology team.» The TerraFab project, attributed to Elon Musk, represents the first major external commitment to Intel’s foundry business, which had previously fabricated chips only for its own products.

Intel supplied the processors for Mac laptops for about fifteen years, until 2020, when Apple switched to its own M-series chips made by TSMC. That transition has been credited with improving Mac sales. In April 2026, the Santa Clara company landed Tesla as the first major customer of its next-generation 14A manufacturing process, with mass production expected in 2029.

The US government’s stake in Intel

In 2025, Trump had called for the resignation of Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan over his ties to China, before announcing the agreement that made the federal government Intel’s largest shareholder. The president later said he «should have asked for more» in terms of the stake, eight months after the public holding in the group exceeded $50 billion in value.

The US administration has stepped up efforts to secure American supply chains in critical minerals and semiconductors, including by acquiring equity stakes in companies, with the goal of reducing dependence on China.

Editor’s note

This article was originally published in Italian on money.it by P. F. on June 19, 2026 as «Apple collaborerà con Intel per la produzione di chip negli Stati Uniti. L’annuncio di Trump». It has been translated and adapted for an international audience by the Money.it International desk.