Trump backs Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and says the US is looking ‘closely’ at a report he was the target of a Chinese spy plot

President Donald Trump voiced his support on Saturday for the “brilliant” head of US chip giant Nvidia, Jensen Huang, after a report that Huang was the target of a Chinese spy plot^1,2. Trump said the United States was looking “closely” at the report². He vowed to investigate the allegations that Chinese intelligence had targeted the Nvidia chief executive⁵.

The report alleged that a Chinese executive linked to a data centre was involved⁶. The allegations of Chinese espionage are tied to that data centre executive⁴. The alleged meetings were between Huang and a Singapore-based executive suspected of working for Chinese intelligence⁷.

Trump’s comments came as he headed to Iowa and Kansas for rallies before the midterm elections⁸. The president expressed his support for Huang after the report indicated that the businessman had been a target³.

Why it matters to investors

The report has raised questions about why Washington is worried over Huang’s contacts with the Singapore-based executive⁷. It also lands on a company whose sales to China are already a policy matter: Trump approved sales of older-generation Nvidia chips to China⁸.

The president’s public backing separates the company’s leadership from the alleged plot: the report describes Huang as a target rather than a participant^1,3. The sources do not report any finding of wrongdoing by Huang or by Nvidia^5,6.

The claims come from a report and from the president’s comments on it, and the sources here carry no response from China or from the executive said to be linked to the data centre^4,6. A Chinese intelligence role is alleged, not established, in the coverage available^5,7.

What to watch

Trump said the US would look closely at the report and vowed scrutiny of the alleged plot, which sets up the question of whether any agency opens a formal inquiry^2,5. The identity and links of the Singapore-based executive are the core of the allegations⁷.

The policy on sales of Nvidia chips to China, which Trump opened to older-generation chips, is the commercial thread running through the story⁸. For now, the White House message is backing for Huang alongside a promise to examine the report^1,3. The sources do not say when or how the alleged meetings took place, or whether the data centre executive has been charged^4,7.