US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick watches US President Donald Trump’s speech in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US on June 11, 2026.
Daniel Heuer | reuters
CNBC’s new pan-America economic survey found that nearly half of Americans believe it is not appropriate for the US government to take ownership in US-based companies.
The conclusion comes as the Trump administration talks 30 deals worth approximately $27 billion Overall, according to the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonpartisan think tank. More may also come. CNBC has reported that the administration has held talks with influential artificial intelligence start-up OpenAI about a potential government stake if it goes public.
pan-america election results Only 19% of voters say it is appropriate for the federal government to own a portion of US-based companies, while 49% say it is not. Nearly a third of voters, or 32%, were undecided, however, suggesting there is room for persuasion as the administration moves forward with its plans.
CNBC’s All America Poll was conducted July 8–12 with a nationwide group of 1,000 registered voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. The survey was conducted in collaboration with Hart Research Associates and Public Opinion Strategies. The results were released on Friday.
Some US ownership stakes have been opportunistic, while others have been part of a broader economic strategy. The biggest case came in August when the US government took ownership of 10% of chip maker Intel. The US government had agreed to provide $8.9 billion in grants to Intel under legislation passed under the Biden administration. The Trump administration decided it wanted equity in return, saying taxpayers would be able to share in any potential profits.
Initial $8.9 billion US stake intel It has surged 372% since then and was worth $42 billion as of Thursday’s close.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick discussed the Intel stake with Senate Republicans at a policy luncheon last week.
“We have to be careful about this,” said Senator John Hoeven, R-N.D. said after the meeting. “I think he sees the value in this for the taxpayer and everything else. I want to be cautious in this area.”
Senator Jon Husted, R-Ohio, also said he is concerned about the trend of the US government taking equity stakes. “I think sometimes it makes sense from a national security standpoint and from a taxpayer standpoint,” Husted said. But, he also said that this “should not be permanent.”
Husted is sponsoring legislation to allow the US government to invest in companies for national-security reasons, but only for up to eight years.
Other government stakes have come through a coordinated effort across the federal government to ensure that the United States has secure access to the resources and technologies needed for national defense. The Pentagon has supported a company called MP material China, which mines rare earths within the US, has tightened its control over rare earth mining in recent years, giving it control over critical components needed to build advanced fighter jets, drones and other technologies.
Critics of American involvement in private companies argue that although government favoring may temporarily make companies more attractive to shareholders, in the long run companies that are heavily managed by the government are less competitive. The American steel industry is often cited as an important example. It has been largely protected over the years through tariffs and other government measures. In 2025, US Steel was taken private by a Japanese firm. The US government was given a so-called golden share that allows it to veto some business decisions.
The US campaign to use its financial muscle to support companies involved in national security has attracted the attention of private investors, some of whom have ties to the president. ProPublica It was reported in May that the White House urged the Pentagon to support defense startup Vulcan Elements, a company that had received an investment from a firm linked to Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son. Pentagon releases privately held Vulcan A $620 million loan.
A White House official described ProPublica The report on White House involvement in Vulcan was described as “fake news on steroids”. A spokesman for Donald Trump Jr. said he was not personally involved in the deal and does not discuss his investments with federal government officials.
Democrats are likely to be more concerned about the stakes in the US government than Republicans. A CNBC survey found that 66% of Democrats found it not appropriate for the US to take equity stakes in American companies, while only 34% of Republicans agreed.
The survey found that skepticism is high even among President Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters. Self-identified MAGA Republicans are evenly split between 31 percent who said such ownership is appropriate and 31 percent who said it is not appropriate. Another 38 percent said they had no opinion on the matter.
The new survey results show a change from the October 2025 All-America Economic Survey when 56% of voters said it was not appropriate for the US government to own a portion of a private company. At the time, 13% of voters said such ownership was appropriate, with 31% saying they had no opinion.
—emily wilkins Contributed to this report.