#industrial-policy

#industrial-policy

A recent Wall Street Journal report has sparked major renewed interest in the quantum computing sector, claiming that President Trump is pushing for the U.S. government to acquire ownership stakes in several key players. According to the Journal, discussions involve Rigetti Computing ( NASDAQ:RGTI ), D-Wave Quantum ( ), IonQ ( ), and Quantum Computing ( NASDAQ:QUBT ), with each company potentially receiving federal funding in exchange for equity. The report suggests this move aims to bolster U.S. leadership in quantum technology amid global competition.

When you are facing a nonmarket economy like China, then you have to exercise industrial policy, Bessent said. The Treasury Secretary explained that China has put rare earth mineral companies out of business by massively dropping their own prices. We're going to set price floors and the forward buying to make sure that this doesn't happen again, and we're going to do it across a range of industries, he said.

In some respects, it reflects a modern economic take on Roosevelt's Big Stick ideology, only Trump seems to have ignored the speaking softly bit and jumped straight to swinging his stick like every problem is a piñata with candy inside. Trump need not even swing his stick - all he has to do is make a threat, and those in its path scramble to appease him.

Donald Trump has a message for critics who think turning the U.S. government into a major stockholder of Intel is a "socialist" move: More is coming. "I will make deals like that for our Country all day long," the president posted on Truth Social after critics piled on, adding later about future ownership stakes, "I want to try and get as much as I can."

The White House has confirmed that the Trump administration is in talks with Intel about acquiring a stake of up to 10% in the chipmaker. "The president wants to put America's needs first, both from a national security and economic perspective," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on Tuesday after days of media speculation over a possible deal. Although it would be unusual for the US government to take a stake in such a large company, it would align with President Donald Trump's trend of intervening in the free market during his second term.

The president wants to put America's needs first, both from a national security and economic perspective,