Nvidia: Huang affair could become Trump scandal

Nvidia Huang affair could become Trump scandal As of: November 13, 2026 • 3:36 a.m

According to media reports, Trump was informed twice about Nvidia boss Huang's affair with a suspected Chinese spy. But the president claims he knew nothing about it.

Jensen Huang's affair with a woman the US intelligence community believes is a Chinese spy is raising more and more questions in Washington. The most important: What did President Donald Trump know? When did he know? And how did he react to that?

There are increasing calls for clarification in Congress. The matter has the potential to be the biggest US national security scandal in decades.

The head of the chip company Nvidia, Huang, resigns because of an affair with a suspected Chinese spy. more

Trump had such a close relationship with no other company boss as he did with Huang, and Nvidia benefited from it. CNN reporter Phil Mattingly compared the two men's publicly known conversations and Trump administration decisions and overlaid the sequence.

The result: You can literally understand how a personal meeting with the president leads to a decision within a few hours or the next day "that directly affects Nvidia's bottom line, products or business processes - exactly as Jensen had hoped."

Jensen Huang played a key role in shaping Nvidia - as a "likeable tech bro" with good contacts in the Trump administration. more

The entrepreneur's interest was to sell as many chips as possible abroad, including China. The Biden government had severely restricted the export of high-performance chips there. Gautan Mukunda of the Yale School of Management at Bloomberg says: "It's clear that Nvidia has used its significant lobbying power and influence over the Trump administration - including a $25 million donation to Trump's ballroom - to essentially get the Trump administration to look the other way and not enforce export control laws."

This is a scandal, says Mukunda, in which both Nvidia and the Trump administration are involved. The alleged Chinese spy with whom Huang had an affair is a businesswoman herself. It may have played a role in the export of chips from the USA to China.

The US chip company Nvidia is investigating its co-founder and boss Jensen Huang. That's what it's about. more

The New York Times reports: Trump was informed of Huang's affair with a suspected Chinese spy at least twice, most recently in May by his Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Marco Rubio. But the president denies having been informed, saying on Monday he hasn't heard "about it," other people have, and Huang denies it, according to Trump.

For more than a year, the US government has been earning money from Nvidia, according to the president's wishes: when a certain chip is sold to China, the state receives at least 15 percent of the revenue. Trump himself owns shares in Nvidia. This year alone, papers were purchased for him five times, each worth at least $100,000 and up to five million dollars.

Market report: Resignation of the Nvida boss spoils the buying mood of DAX investors after an all-time high. more

Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton tells CNN he now has a lot of questions:

Some Republicans are also already calling for clarification. And two Democratic senators wrote to demand that the government preserve all relevant documents for possible investigations.

This topic in the program: tagesschau.de | Nvidia: Huang affair could become Trump scandal | 11/12/2026 | 11:41 p.m