If I were Intel and a deal were really in the works contingent on antitrust, I would argue that:

(a) Intel is a distant third in fabrication and a merger with another also-ran would improve competitiveness against state-backed TSMC and the Samsung chaebol;

(b) the severity of the demand creation in the market justifies an acquisition that streamlines existing players and makes them more productive than the sum of the deal's parts; and

(c) bringing GloFo under a US-owned corporate umbrella is vastly beneficial to the national interest in a way that only Intel can fully enable.

I think (c) will be enough for intel to get the government off its back here. GF is currently owned by the UAE government. The military would love for American foundries to be owned by American companies.