Trump won’t raise Nvidia spy scandal with Xi, officials say

President Donald Trump is unlikely to bring up Jensen Huang's affair with an alleged Chinese spy when he meets Chinese President Xi Jinping next week, two senior administration officials told reporters on Friday. The officials said trade will be the main topic of the talks.politico.com

"I don't expect the president to raise it — the Alice Huang issue," one official said during a briefing on Trump's upcoming trip to the Philippines and China. Trump and Xi are set to meet one-on-one on Thursday, November 19, in Shenzhen. The trip will also include a three-way meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.ft.com+2

Export controls "not negotiated"

Officials said the investigations would stay a domestic matter. "When it comes to some of these national security matters and examinations and investigations that are going on in the U.S., it's probably not something that we're going to read the Chinese in on at this moment," one said. A second official said "the situation with Nvidia should not really have any bearing on the trip." The official added that Washington does "not negotiate American export controls" with Beijing.politico.com+1

Trump also said he would not raise the relationship himself. "I'm sure President Xi will ask me about it," he said, and called Huang "a very honorable man".politico.com

A week of fallout

Huang resigned as chief executive of Nvidia on Thursday, November 12. He had admitted on November 8 that he was "unfaithful" to his wife, and reports then surfaced of a second affair with a subordinate. Chief financial officer Colette Kress was named interim CEO. Alice Huang, who is not related to Jensen Huang, was an executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based data center company. According to AFP, a US intelligence memo circulated this spring described her as an asset of China's Ministry of State Security. Beijing has called the spy claim "completely groundless and pure slander".abc13.com+2

Trump has said the FBI is looking into the affair. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott has asked Huang to testify at a public hearing on December 3.ca.finance.yahoo.com+1

Megaspeed blacklist dispute

The scandal has also drawn attention to the administration's own decisions. The Financial Times reported that Howard Lutnick's Commerce Department delayed efforts to add Megaspeed to the US entity list. Being on that list would require companies to get licenses before exporting chips to it. On Friday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said his department had been "in favour" of listing Megaspeed "for months".ft.com

The US delegation will not include a business contingent. However, Elon Musk, chief executive of SpaceX and Tesla, will travel with the president. Officials expect Trump to discuss reducing nuclear weapons with Xi and Putin. APEC leaders meet in Shenzhen on November 18 and 19.reuters.com+1