At a White House business roundtable on Dec. 10, 2025, President Donald Trump singled out IBM (NYSE:IBM) chief executive Arvind Krishna, who was in the room. He called Krishna “a legend” and credited him with taking the company’s stock “from a rather low price to a very nice price,” then added: “I won’t say high because I’m sure you’re going to say it’s going to go up a lot more, right?” (1)

The clip resurfaced and spread widely in late May 2026, often stripped of that context and framed as breaking news. The reason: a newly announced IBM partnership with the government.

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IBM’s $1 billion government quantum award

On May 21, 2026, IBM and the US Department of Commerce announced a proposed $1 billion CHIPS Act…