Trump Was Briefed About a Suspected Chinese Spy. He’d Still ‘Certainly Take’ Huang to Asia.

President Trump was asked Sunday night whether Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang would join him on next week’s Asia trip, hours after Nvidia’s board opened an independent probe into whether Huang had been targeted by a foreign intelligence effort and Huang admitted an affair.

“I don’t know, but I’d certainly take him,” Trump told reporters in West Palm Beach. “I haven’t heard that he’s done anything wrong. He dealt with somebody but, you know, so does everybody else.”

That is not a soft answer. U.S. intelligence has already told the White House who “somebody” is. The New York Times reported that agencies concluded Alice Huang — also known as Huang Le, a Chinese citizen and former Megaspeed executive, no relation to Jensen — had been recruited by China’s Ministry of State Security. On Sunday the Times reported that Jensen Huang admitted to Nvidia’s board that the relationship was intimate, and Huang emailed staff: “I was unfaithful to my wife.”

‘Honorable guy’

Trump went further than a shrug. In a clip posted by the White House Rapid Response account, he called Huang “an honorable guy,” said Huang had “done an amazing job for our country,” and said he hoped “everything is fine.”

“I have not spoken to him about it. I just know he’s a fine person, but you never know what is going on,” Trump said. “I think he probably has an excuse for it; you have to hear it. No, you can’t do that with people.”

A reporter asked the follow-up that mattered: in hindsight, did Trump wish he had acted on the intelligence when he was briefed about the suspected spy?

“No, I don’t think so,” Trump said. “I think he’s an honorable guy.”

What Trump already knew

The Times reported that Trump was briefed earlier this year on Huang’s relationship with the woman U.S. intelligence flagged, and that he chose not to cut Huang off. Huang still traveled with Trump to China earlier this year. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, asked Sunday whether Huang had been cut out of government meetings, said he “just can’t comment because of the nature of it.”

Nvidia’s board, in a six-sentence statement Sunday, said it is opening “an independent investigation in light of recent reporting that founder and CEO Jensen Huang has been the target of a foreign intelligence effort,” run by independent directors with outside counsel. “While the Board has no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised, the Board’s inquiry will examine all available information.” Huang, the board said, “fully supports the review.”

House Foreign Affairs Chairman Brian Mast, China Select Committee Chairman John Moolenaar, and Intelligence Committee Chairman Rick Crawford have already asked Huang for a closed-door briefing on Nov. 18 — the morning after Nvidia’s earnings — and gave him until Nov. 11 to accept. That deadline is Tuesday.

Trump was not alone. Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire posted that Huang is “one of the greatest entrepreneurs of this generation,” that he “did something incredibly dumb” that “was bad for America,” but that Maguire’s “guess is there was no bad intention,” and that he believes Huang is “irreplaceable for America’s AI leadership.” Elon Musk replied: “I agree.”

Trump was not alone. Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire posted that Huang is “one of the greatest entrepreneurs of this generation,” that he “did something incredibly dumb” that “was bad for America,” but that Maguire’s “guess is there was no bad intention,” and that Huang is “irreplaceable for America’s SI leadership.” Elon Musk replied: “I agree.”

The bet Trump is making

Huang runs the company that makes the chips America is counting on in the SI race with China. Trump has treated him as a favored executive — medals, White House events, a seat on the Asia trip. Sunday night the president was offered an off-ramp: drop him, at least for the trip, after a spy briefing and an admitted affair.

He did not take it. He said he’d take Huang anyway, called him honorable, and said he does not wish he had acted on the intelligence earlier. Nvidia’s board is investigating. Three House chairmen want Huang in Room 2172 on Nov. 18. Trump’s answer is already on tape.