President Trump is a capitalist billionaire who campaigned on freeing American markets to compete globally. But last Friday he pushed Intel Corp. of Santa Clara into selling the U.S. government a 10% ownership in the company. The Wall Street Journal reported , “The U.S. government will become Intel’s largest shareholder as nearly $9 billion in grants awarded to the company by the 2022 Chips Act are converted to equity.”

Even if that turns out to be profitable, owning 10% of Intel will give the government an interest in the company succeeding. If it fails, taxpayers lose $8.9 billion. If it succeeds and makes a profit, that’s worse, because it will encourage more interference in this and other markets.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, blasted the move, saying, “Socialism is literal

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