CNBC Daily Open: Under Trump, business and politics are becoming bedfellows

Don’t mix business with pleasure — or the music of the spheres might eject you from the skies even if you are an astronomer — but it seems, in the current milieu, there are no such restrictions between business and politics.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is eyeing a stake in struggling chipmaker Intel, according to a Bloomberg report on Thursday. That consideration is primarily attributable to Intel’s status as the only born-and-bred American company that can manufacture the fastest chips on U.S. soil.

While some firms such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Samsung, both of which can produce 3-nanometer chips — the most advanced semiconductors so far — have factories in the U.S., they are Taiwanese and South Korean companies, respectively, and probably do not enjoy apple pies on the Fourth of July.

In combination with the news that Nvidia and AMD will pay the U.S. government a 15% share of their revenue from chip sales in China, as well as Apple committing to make more chips in America, the Trump administration seems to be consolidating a chip empire with the White House as its capital.  

To modify a song last heard by the Astronomer CEO before he was cast down to Earth: “I used to rule the world / Chips would rise when I gave the word.”

— CNBC’s Kif Leswing contributed to this report

Germany’s Merz strikes sharp tone with Europe as he cozies up to Trump

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is looking to redefine Germany’s voice in Europe and build a relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump — whom many of Merz’s European colleagues do not see eye to eye with.

The historically EU-friendly Merz, a former member of the European Parliament, now has a long list of complaints about the bloc.

— Sophie Kiderlin