Embattled Intel Corp. CEO Lip-Bu Tan met with President Donald Trump late Monday, four days after the president called for him to resign because of his past ties with Chinese companies.

“I met with Mr. Lip-Bu Tan, of Intel, along with Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, and Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “The meeting was a very interesting one. His success and rise is an amazing story. Mr. Tan and my Cabinet members are going to spend time together, and bring suggestions to me during the next week. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

Trump’s abrupt about-face comes after he wrote on Truth Social last Thursday that Tan “is highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately. There is no other solution to this problem.”

The president was referring to Tan’s stint as CEO of Cadence Design Systems Inc. and a criminal case involving the multinational company. His comments were further stoked by accusations from Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., over Tan’s ties to China. Cotton asked whether Intel required Tan, 65, to divest from positions in chipmakers linked to the Chinese Communist Party, the People’s Liberation Army, and others when Tan was hired in March to replace Pat Gelsinger.

Last week, Intel responded in a statement that it, the company’s directors and Tan are “deeply committed to advancing U.S. national and economic security interests.”

By Monday, following Tan’s visit with Trump, Intel said, “Earlier today, Mr. Tan had the honor of meeting with President Trump for a candid and constructive discussion on Intel’s commitment to strengthening U.S. technology and manufacturing leadership.”

The high-tech detente momentarily defused a tense situation between the president and an American business icon that is struggling to keep pace in the blur-fast age of artificial intelligence (AI). The question remains where Intel goes from here, according to analysts.

“This should have happened already. I just think a foundry system gets spun out,” said Daniel Newman, CEO of The Futurum Group. “For the record, whether it remains Intel foundry or spins out to be TSMC or some other iteration. The U.S. needs a U.S.-owned foundry for leading-edge chips that has full control of its intellectual property.”

“Looks like (Tan’s) visit to the White House was a moment of progress. Could be a good sign for Intel’s prospects,” Newman added.

Tan, who was born in Malaysia and raised in Singapore before attending college in the U.S., succeeded Gelsinger as the struggling chipmaker attempts to gain traction in an AI market dominated by NVIDIA Corp. and other upstarts. Intel has been burning through cash to build a foundry business for chip manufacturing.

Since taking over Intel, Tan has told employees that the Silicon Valley giant has scrapped plans for manufacturing sites in Germany and Poland while pausing development of another one in Ohio.

Separately, NVIDIA and AMD agreed on Monday to share 15% of their chip sales to China with the federal government as part of a deal to secure export licenses for semiconductors.