Despite Denial, Trump Was Told on Trip to China About Spying on Nvidia Leader

President Trump was briefed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a May flight to Beijing that U.S. intelligence linked Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang romantically to a woman believed to work for China’s Ministry of State Security. The briefing came after Trump invited Huang to join the trip during a refueling stop in Alaska, despite Huang’s omission from the original guest list. It contradicts Trump’s later claim that he had not heard of the relationship before the visit. U.S. officials had first warned him about the matter the previous fall; he took no action then, and the new briefing did not change his decision to bring Huang along. A memo on Huang prepared by Rubio’s team was not shown to Trump, but an official confirmed Rubio briefed him verbally.

The disclosures have unsettled Nvidia and drawn scrutiny to Huang’s access to the president and influence over chip-export policy. The woman, Alice Huang, had been an executive at a Singapore-based Nvidia customer operating data centers that let Chinese companies rent computing power. Jensen Huang and Nvidia initially described their contact as customer-related; he later acknowledged a romantic relationship, and the company announced an independent investigation. Trump has continued to call Huang honorable, says he does not plan to discuss the matter with China’s Xi Jinping, and will not bring Huang on his next China trip. The episode unfolds amid debate over whether to permit sales of Nvidia’s advanced chips to China: the administration has not approved Blackwell sales, though it has allowed some H200 sales.