Trump says Nvidia’s Jensen Huang told him he had ‘no idea’ alleged Chinese spy was Beijing operative

WASHINGTON, DC: As congressional scrutiny over Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's alleged affair intensifies, Donald Trump appears keen to maintain his support for the tech mogul.

The 80-year-old president has now revealed that the co-founder of the tech giant denied knowing that the woman he admitted having an extramarital affair with “was a spy” for China.

Trump's comments came after Huang admitted he was "unfaithful" to his wife and apologised for hurting her and their children.

As Huang's apology made headlines, several reports identified the woman linked to him as Alice Huang, a former Megaspeed executive whom US intelligence agencies reportedly suspected of working as an asset for China's Ministry of State Security.

Trump says FBI is investigating Nvidia boss's affair

Trump told reporters at the White House that he was “amazed” by the allegations against Huang, which prompted Nvidia's board to initiate an independent investigation.

Trump suggested that he had only recently learned of allegations that Megaspeed International executive Alice Huang was a Chinese spy.

However, reports suggest that Trump had been briefed about a year earlier on electronic surveillance that led US intelligence agencies to believe that Ms. Huang was working as an operative for the Chinese government.

The president chose not to act on the information at the time. “I didn’t hear about it then, but a lot of people have heard about it, and Jensen totally denies that,” Trump told reporters.

“I asked him today because I did speak to him today just to see if he’s feeling all right. ‘How you doing?’” he continued.

“And I asked him about that, and he ... said he had absolutely no idea that the person in question was a spy,” the president said. “I asked him that question: ‘Did you have any idea that she was a spy?’ He said, ‘I had no idea that she was a spy.’ I really believe him.”

Trump later revealed that the FBI had launched an investigation into Huang's affair but did not elaborate on the probe or when it began.

Republicans summon Jensen Huang for congressional probe

As Trump continues to defend Huang, describing him as a 'high quality' and 'honourable guy', members of his own party are demanding an investigation into the tech boss.

Senior Republican lawmakers are calling on Huang to testify before Congress about his reported relationship with Alice.

The chairmen of three powerful House committees have sent Huang a letter requesting that he attend a closed-door briefing on November 18 to answer questions about the relationship.

“Recent reports raise significant national security concerns regarding the PRC’s [People’s Republic of China] access to sensitive US technology and information,” wrote Reps Brian Mast, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; John Moolenaar, head of the panel on the Chinese Communist Party; and Rick Crawford, chair of the House Intelligence Committee.

They added that it was “vital that Congress determines the extent to which US national security has been placed at risk”.

They also raised concerns about Huang's “security protocols against foreign adversary espionage and your interactions with … Alice Huang.”

Other lawmakers want the Trump administration to halt the sale of Nvidia's advanced H200 artificial intelligence processors to approved Chinese companies.

“The US should immediately pause the shipment of advanced AI chips to China until we can get to the bottom of this incident and ensure our national security is not being undermined,” Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, wrote on social media.