Donald Trump has called for Intel’s new chief executive, Lip-Bu Tan, to resign immediately over alleged conflict issues.

In a post on his Truth Social website on Thursday, Trump wrote: “The CEO of INTEL is highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately. There is no other solution to this problem.” The former president’s statement was short and did not elaborate on what he meant by Tan being ‘highly conflicted’.

The former president’s outburst comes just days after Republican senator Tom Cotton wrote a letter to Intel’s chairman Frank Yeary to express his “concern about the security and integrity of Intel’s operations” amid Tan’s extensive commercial and business ties to China. Cotton also cited Tan’s long record as a major investor in Chinese tech companies, highlighting these investments could pose potential conflicts of interest for Tan, as Intel is the U.S.’s biggest advanced chipmaker.

Tan, a well-regarded Silicon Valley veteran, has for decades operated in semiconductors and venture capital around the world. The U.S.-based businessman, whose investment firm is based in San Francisco and has related companies based in Hong Kong, has for years funnelled billions of dollars into Chinese tech companies and startups. Tan’s portfolio of past investments in China includes Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), China’s largest chipmaker.

Tan is also currently the target of increased scrutiny because of his past position as the former chief executive of Cadence Design Systems, a California-based chip design software provider. Cadence, whose products are used in the chipmaking process, last week revealed it had violated U.S. export controls after selling its design tools to a Chinese university with known ties to China’s military.

This past week’s developments have increased scrutiny on Tan as Intel’s new leader at a time when the company is facing major pressures. The California-based company has stumbled in recent years, having fallen far behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) in manufacturing the most advanced chips.

Intel’s only US-headquartered semiconductor production capability is also already at risk in the nascent race to build more advanced AI chips. Despite its status as the largest advanced chipmaker in the U.S., Intel has missed out on a lot of the action so far this year as AI has become the next new frontier of the global chip competition.

Intel’s struggling performance, which began before Tan was appointed, has been a major concern for U.S. officials given Intel’s stature. This has led Washington to provide Intel with billions in subsidies and loans, as part of a larger U.S. strategy to revive the domestic chipmaking sector and wean U.S. industries off of foreign-made chips, especially those made in Taiwan and South Korea.

Tan, who previously led venture capital and semiconductor-related investments at GV, a subsidiary of Alphabet, the parent company of Google, officially became Intel’s CEO in March this year. His appointment followed a vote by Intel’s board to oust then-CEO Pat Gelsinger in December last year. In March, the company’s board of directors agreed to have Tan take over as CEO.

Tan immediately began to turn Intel around, instituting a cost-cutting drive aimed at restoring profitability to the company that was once the most profitable chipmaker in the world. While the drive was welcomed by some on Wall Street, some have said the cost-cutting comes at a time when Intel has to be investing even more heavily to remain relevant.

Senator Cotton, in his letter, made that case, and had argued that as the recipient of U.S. taxpayer-funded subsidies and loans, Intel is obliged to ensure “the security and integrity of Intel’s operations”. “Intel is required to be a responsible steward of American taxpayer dollars and to comply with applicable security regulations,” Cotton added. “Mr Tan’s associations raise questions about Intel’s ability to fulfill these obligations.”

Intel did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and the White House declined to comment on Trump’s statement. In New York on Thursday morning, Intel’s shares were down by 3 percent in pre-market trading, indicating some investors’ discomfort at Trump’s comments.

Intel’s board has yet to respond to Trump’s demand for Tan’s resignation, but his move to oust the company’s last CEO, Gelsinger, in December suggests the likelihood of more drama to come at Intel, which, after TSMC, is the world’s second-largest chipmaker.

Tan’s cost-cutting drive and warnings over Intel’s reliance on external customers for its next-generation chipmaking technology have only added to an air of uncertainty around the company’s ability to compete in the AI chip market, which is effectively a four-way race currently between Intel, TSMC, Nvidia, and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics.

Tan had said in July that if Intel cannot find a “significant external customer” to back its next-generation manufacturing technology, the company may have to stop developing it. If Intel abandons the race to develop leading-edge chipmaking, TSMC will have a de facto monopoly, with far-reaching implications for not just the global chip sector, but for U.S. national security as well.

Tan’s drive to reduce Intel’s costs has met with support from some investors, but it has also exacerbated concerns about the company’s future. This has only given more ammunition to Senator Cotton and critics of Tan on the Hill, where many lawmakers are very concerned about Intel’s ability to revive its fortunes and remain competitive with TSMC.