Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed on Tuesday that the U.S. government is considering an unusual investment in the struggling chipmaker Intel. However, the two officials provided different explanations for what the Trump administration hopes to achieve through this equity stake.

Such a deal, if completed, would create an unusual arrangement where the Trump administration would use taxpayer money to take an equity position in a U.S. private company.

During a CNBC interview on Tuesday morning, Bessent stated that the purpose of such a transaction would be to support American technology companies rather than profit from Intel.

When asked whether taking a stake in Intel would mean persuading U.S. companies to purchase chips from the tech giant, Bessent said any investment in Intel would be aimed at "helping the company stabilize chip production in the United States."

"The last thing we would do is use this equity to pressure or pull business," he said, adding that it would be a "conversion of grants." This may be in response to reports indicating that the Trump administration might convert grants from the CHIPS and Science Act into equity. Reports suggest the government is considering holding a 10% stake in Intel.

"There's absolutely no talk of forcing companies to procure from Intel," he said, also mentioning that most of the world's chips are produced in Taiwan, and dependence on Taiwanese chips represents a "national security concern."

"For national security reasons, we must eliminate this single point of failure risk," he stated.

Lutnick reiterated this position, telling CNBC later on Tuesday morning that moving chip manufacturing to the United States and reducing dependence on Taiwan is both an economic and security priority. However, he also said Trump believes government investments should generate returns rather than providing grants to large tech companies.

He said the Biden administration, through the bipartisan CHIPS Act, was "really just giving Intel money - for free."

"Donald Trump's attitude about this is: 'Hey, if we're putting money in, we should get equity,'" Lutnick said. "America should benefit from this deal. I mean, that's exactly Donald Trump's view - he would think: 'Why give this kind of money to a company worth $100 billion?'"

When contacted about the related transaction last week, Intel declined to comment but stated it "firmly supports President Trump's efforts to strengthen America's leadership in technology and manufacturing."

"We look forward to continuing to work with the Trump administration to advance these shared priorities, but we do not comment on rumors or speculation," a spokesperson said in a statement.

"Unless formally announced by the government, discussions about hypothetical transactions should be considered speculation," White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement last week.

Previously, chipmakers Nvidia and AMD said they would pay 15% of their China chip sales revenue to the government in exchange for export licenses. Last week, two people familiar with White House discussions told sources that if the government does indeed take a stake in Intel, this could become a model for other Trump administration investment projects.

President Donald Trump met with Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger last week, after previously calling for his resignation due to alleged connections with China.

In its transition toward mobile and artificial intelligence sectors, Intel has fallen behind competitors like Qualcomm and Nvidia, losing ground in the chip race. The chipmaker said last month it had largely completed its 15% workforce reduction plan.

Trump has been committed to revitalizing American manufacturing and consolidating U.S. leadership in technology, both core objectives of his presidency so far. He views major investments by companies like Apple, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, and Nvidia to expand their U.S. operations as political victories, even though these companies had been expanding their American businesses before his second term.