Trump says he was unaware of the intelligence during Jensen Huang’s May trip
President Donald Trump said on Monday at the White House that he learned “not too long ago” of federal concerns that Chinese citizen Alice Huang, then a top executive at Megaspeed International, was suspected of being a Chinese spy. Trump declined to provide a detailed explanation of when he learned of the government’s concerns, saying only that it was “not too long ago,” and that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was looking into the matter.
Trump said he was not aware of the intelligence when Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang traveled with the president to China last May. Asked whether he would raise Huang with Chinese President Xi Jinping when he travels to China again later this month, Trump said, “No, I don’t think so,” adding, “I’m sure President Xi will ask me about it.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio supervised the drafting of a classified memo warning that Jensen Huang had a personal relationship with Alice Huang. Asked whether he read the memo, Trump said, “I’d certainly check with the intelligence people, they could have been mentioned. Certainly, it didn’t make much of an impact on me.”
Trump defended Huang, calling him an “amazing guy” and an “honorable man.” He said, “I would say that when I heard about it, first of all, I was amazed because I view him as a high-quality person. I’ve known him for a long time.”
Trump also described an exchange with Huang earlier in the day on Monday. Trump said, “I asked him that question. Did you have any idea that she was a spy? He said, ‘I had no idea that she was a spy,’ and I really believe him.”
The Journal earlier reported that U.S. officials last year concluded that Alice Huang was sharing information with the Chinese government while working with Nvidia to build data centers in Asia. The Journal said the president’s knowledge of Huang’s romantic ties to an alleged Chinese spy has come under scrutiny, partly because of the tech executive’s proximity to the White House. In a Sunday note to staff, Huang confirmed that he had an extramarital affair and apologized for being unfaithful to his wife, to whom he has been married for more than 40 years.
Nvidia’s board said Sunday it was launching an investigation into reports that Jensen Huang had been the target of a foreign espionage effort. The board said it had no reason to believe either the company’s secrets or national security were compromised, and it expressed confidence in the CEO’s leadership.
Nvidia, with a $4.3 trillion market capitalization, has become what the Journal calls “a darling of America’s artificial-intelligence boom.” The company sells hundreds of billions of dollars worth of its advanced AI processors, known as graphics processing units, and other hardware, and has provided financial backstops and guarantees to huge swaths of the AI industry.