Washington: U.S. President Donald Trump softened his stance on Taiwan’s semiconductor industry on Friday, just days after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) announced a US$100 billion investment in the United States.

According to Focus Taiwan, Trump reiterated during a speech at the White House that Taiwan “stole” the U.S. chip industry but shifted the blame to previous administrations for allowing computer chip production to move overseas. He stated, “They stole it from us. They took it from us, and I don’t blame them. I give them credit,” while emphasizing that the fault lay with former leaders who permitted this shift.

Trump recalled Intel’s dominance under former CEO Andy Grove but noted that the company gradually lost its leadership, allowing Taiwan to take over the sector. He criticized the post-Grove leadership at Intel, claiming they “didn’t know what the hell they were doing,” leading to the U.S. losing its chip industry, now “almost exclusively in Taiwan.”

Previously, Trump had threatened a 100 percent tariff on Taiwan’s semiconductor imports to the United States to encourage domestic chip production. His softened stance comes after TSMC committed on March 4 to building five advanced chip plants in Arizona. Trump highlighted that no U.S. subsidies have been announced as part of this deal.

Trump hailed TSMC’s expansion as a major victory for the U.S. because his government did not have to offer any subsidies. He criticized former President Joe Biden’s CHIPS and Science Act, which allocated US$52 billion in subsidies to TSMC and other foreign chipmakers to boost local semiconductor manufacturing, calling it a waste of money. Trump argued that TSMC’s investment was driven by concerns over tariffs, rather than U.S. government incentives.