Did Trump Turn a Blind Eye to Allegations of Jensen Huang’s Affair with a Chinese Spy? ... Trump Faces a Test

[Financial News] An analysis has emerged that U.S. President Donald Trump, by standing by NVIDIA Corporation CEO Jensen Huang, who had an affair with a woman suspected of being a Chinese spy, has himself been put to the test on national security issues.
The U.S. daily The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) said on the 9th (local time) that Huang’s affair “is not simply an extramarital relationship,” because it involved a woman suspected of being a Chinese spy.
The newspaper added, “Huang is probably President Trump’s closest adviser on artificial intelligence (AI), and AI is central to the White House’s economic and national security strategies.”
Jensen Huang’s affair partner is Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore data center company Megaspeed International. She has been monitored by U.S. intelligence agencies over suspicions that she approached Huang to gather confidential information about advanced AI semiconductors and developments within the U.S. administration.


The previous day, President Trump commented on Huang’s affair, saying, “I know he’s a fine person. But nobody knows what’s going on, do they?” He added, “I hope everything works out. He’s done amazing things, so I believe he must be a fine person.”
However, the WSJ said, “The Jensen Huang scandal has put President Trump to the test.”
The newspaper stressed, “U.S. officials concluded that this woman (Alice Huang) was sharing information with Chinese intelligence agencies while working with NVIDIA Corporation on data center construction,” adding, “Huang has had a voice in major policymaking processes involving the U.S. government’s most sensitive technology issues, and the U.S. AI strategy is a very large part of its strategy toward China.”
The New York Times (NYT), which last month first reported on the close relationship between Huang and Alice Huang, alleged in its article at the time that President Trump had received a report about suspicions of Chinese espionage about a year earlier but had turned a blind eye without taking any separate action.
President Trump developed a close relationship with Huang after the start of his second administration, and Huang also frequently attended White House events.
When calls to slow the pace of AI development emerged in Silicon Valley, President Trump contacted Huang, who publicly backed Trump’s position in favor of accelerating AI development.
Huang was also one of the U.S. tech executives to receive the highest honor in science and technology from President Trump last October.


The WSJ reported that when President Trump presented Huang with the medal, numerous officials in the Trump administration were aware of the alleged affair between Huang and Alice Huang.
The newspaper noted, “Key Republican lawmakers in the U.S. Congress have sent Huang a letter demanding answers, and President Trump, too, could soon face the prospect of having to provide further explanations about when and what he knew regarding this matter.”
The U.S. online outlet Axios also drew attention to the fact that Huang accompanied President Trump on the itinerary for the U.S.-China summit held in Beijing last May, even after Trump became aware of the allegations.
Huang was not included in the list of business executives traveling to China that the White House initially announced, but joined the trip later. Reports also emerged that Huang, who was not aboard when Air Force One took off for China, boarded the presidential aircraft in Alaska.
The previous day, when asked whether he would take Huang along on a trip to the Philippines and China in the middle of this month, President Trump replied, “I don’t know, but I’ll definitely take him,” adding, “I haven’t heard that he did anything wrong.”


[email protected] Lee Seok-woo, international affairs correspondent Reporter