On Thursday morning, President Trump called on Intel chief Lip-Bu Tan to step down, writing on Truth Social that the CEO is “highly” conflicted and there is “no other solution to this problem.”The message was an apparent reference to Tan’s long history of doing business in China,

Republican Sen. Tom Cotton questions how much Intel's board knew about Lip-Bu Tan's tenure at Cadence Design Systems, which recently pleaded guilty to illegally exporting tech to China.

The U.S. official was curious about what measures were taken to address those concerns. The Republican asked Intel ’s board whether Tan was required to invest in Chinese companies with ties to the Chinese military or Communist Party.