Two top Trump Cabinet officials go to war over China spy scandal amid explosive accusations: report
Two top Trump Cabinet officials go to war over China spy scandal amid explosive accusations: report
A White House Situation Room meeting reportedly turned into a blowout between two of President Cabinet secretaries after news broke that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had an affair with a suspect Chinese spy.
Tempers apparently boiled over regarding claims Commerce Secretary dragged his feet on placing restrictions on a company run by a suspected Chinese spy with whom Huang admitted to having an affair, even after the Cabinet official received an intel memo informing him of the potential threat.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reportedly confronted Lutnick about that in the meeting, and other Cabinet officials took Bessent's side, according to Axios.
Trump has for months called to place companies suspected of supplying China with Nvidia's complex AI chips on what is called the Entity List, a Department of Commerce export control list that identifies companies the U.S. government believes pose a serious risk to national security.
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Three times — in May, August and last Thursday — Trump approved taking action against companies believed to be diverting Nvidia chips to China, according to Axios.
One of those companies is Singapore-based Megaspeed International, which is reportedly one of Nvidia's largest customers. Suspected Chinese spy Alice Huang, with whom the former Nvidia CEO admitted to having an affair, is an executive at Megaspeed.
Lutnick was accused of slow-rolling in putting Megaspeed on the Entity List, which prompted Bessent to lose his patience.
When the news of Jensen Huang's affair broke, Lutnick, Bessent, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer reportedly convened in the Situation Room.
Bessent confronted Lutnick about why the export controls had not already been put into place, and others in the room took Bessent's side, according to the Axios report.
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Lutnick said he would have to discuss it with the president despite Trump's May and August orders to proceed.
The group then met with Trump later in the day at the Oval Office. The president reportedly gave the order again, saying, "Let's get it done."
Still, Lutnick wouldn't proceed.
"I'll develop some options and come back," he said. The group replied that Trump's decision was final and that Lutnick must "go f---ing execute."
Lutnick is at the center of the scandal, especially after it was revealed he received a memo informing him about U.S. intelligence that Huang had a relationship with a suspected Chinese spy and still did nothing to put the company she ran on the Entity List.
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