'Lot of leakage': Nvidia spy row sparks Trump admin blame game as Bessent turns on Lutnick
WASHINGTON, DC: Amid the intensifying scrutiny around former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s extramarital affair with an alleged Chinese spy, a blame game has begun inside the Trump administration.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has pointed the finger at Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, as some of President Donald Trump’s advisers have begun discussing whether Lutnick should be removed from his job.
Scott Bessent questions Commerce Department's action in Nvidia scandal
Bessent, in an interview with CNBC on Friday, November 13, accused the Commerce Department of delaying labeling Nvidia customer Megaspeed a possible national security threat, escalating the ongoing blame game after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigned.
According to a report by CNN, sources familiar with inside conversations revealed that Trump has also received calls from administration officials and outside advisers raising concerns about Lutnick and questioning whether he should remain in his post.
However, before Bessent’s comment came, the White House released a statement on Thursday saying that Trump “maintains complete confidence in the secretary and his ability to carry out the position as the most transformative Commerce Secretary in modern history.”
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent blames Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick over Nvidia chip mess: "Treasury, War, USTR and State were in favor of putting Megaspeed on the entity list for months." https://t.co/0BTlHymwUY
— CNBC (@CNBC) November 13, 2026
The report, citing sources, added that it was not clear what the president might do, as Trump and Lutnick are longtime friends.
Administration members wanted Megaspeed blacklisted for months
During the interview, Bessent said several parts of the Trump administration, including the Treasury and State departments, the Pentagon, and the US Trade Representative's office, supported placing Megaspeed on an export blacklist.
But, Bessent said Commerce, which controls the list, had not acted.
“Commerce has the pen. You would have to ask them about their internal processes,” he said.
He suggested the inaction had violated directives given by Trump.
“I am frustrated when President Trump made it very clear that China should not receive any Nvidia chips above A100s,” he said, referring to an entry-level chip.
“And so any leakage is very frustrating because it hurts our great companies in the AI race, gives the Chinese an advantage,” he went on.
Trump officials have long believed that Megaspeed was redirecting US-made AI chips to China.
Bessent argues that this prospect should have led to the company being listed on Commerce’s Entity List, which restricts exports to companies that could pose national security risks.
Scott Bessent reportedly confronted Howard Lutnick in Situation Room
Senior Trump administration officials, including Lutnick, were reportedly informed months ago about Jensen Huang’s relationship with Alice Huang, a Megaspeed executive.
However, Commerce still had not added Megaspeed to the Entity List despite those warnings, people familiar with the matter said.
CNBC’s Joe Kernen: “Was there an incident where you confronted Secretary Lutnick and said, ‘What is going on and why did you not do this, and now look how everything has come back on the administration at this point?’” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent: “We don't repeat conversations in the Situation Room.” Joe Kernen: “If you were Secretary of Commerce, you would do things differently.” Scott Bessent: “I'm not going to say if I were Secretary of Commerce. I'm going to say as a Treasury Secretary, Treasury and my deputy has been pushing for this for months at the deputies level… I think we have all the authorities that we need. They just need to be implemented. And what I would say is, up to the H100s, that's not a technological advantage. Huawei has a combination of chips that can be put together to get to H100 level. It kind of looks like a Borg, uses a lot more electricity, much less efficient. So by selling them H100s, there's no advantage. And I would say that all the authorities that we need exist.” Nvidia’s H100 chips should never have gotten into the hands of China, and the U.S. must IMMEDIATELY CRACKDOWN to prevent this from ever happening again.
— RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) November 13, 2026
During a tense Situation Room meeting last week, Bessent confronted Lutnick over his department’s reluctance to blacklist the company. Lutnick did not commit to taking any specific action at the meeting, according to the report.
In the Friday interview, Bessent did not deny the confrontation.
“We don’t repeat conversations in the Situation Room,” he said.
