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Sometimes a news story is important because it reveals information for the first time. Other times, it’s a big deal because it confirms what many people already suspected. The latest development in the story of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang falls into the second category.
As news of Huang’s extramarital affair with a suspected Chinese spy rocks Silicon Valley, Washington, and Wall Street, President Trump has pleaded ignorance. In particular, he has said he was unaware of the relationship between Jensen Huang and Alice Huang (no relation) when he traveled to China this past May. “No, I didn’t hear about it then,” he told reporters on Monday.
Almost immediately, The New York Times reported that in fact Trump had been warned by Marco Rubio, the national security adviser and secretary of state, while headed to China on Air Force One, just before Jensen Huang boarded the plane for a state visit. (In fact, Trump may have been told even before then: The paper previously reported that Trump was notified about intelligence findings on the relationship last year as well.) The new White House chief of staff, Stephen Miller, wants to crack down on leaks; he clearly has his work cut out for him.
A few important features of Trump’s approach to the presidency are on display here. First, he has abandoned the pretense of being tough on China, a major talking point during his first presidential run and term. Second, he ignores any intelligence findings that contradict his instincts. Third, this is the latest evidence that, as I wrote last January, Trump does not care about U.S. national security. That doesn’t mean he’s actively hostile to it, or a saboteur; he’s just indifferent to anything but his own interests. In the nearly two years since I first laid out this argument, the president has repeatedly bolstered the case.
When Trump was informed that China had infiltrated a tech company that is widely regarded as essential to the health of the global economy as well as a crucial force for maintaining American power and national security—such that the U.S. bans exports of its most powerful chips to China—Trump opted to do nothing and pretend he hadn’t heard. We can only speculate on the reasons. Trump enjoys closeness with titans like Huang and wouldn’t want to endanger that. Huang clearly relished putting Trump on speakerphone during a podcast taping in September. (A serial philanderer himself, Trump said in recent days that Huang “probably has an excuse for” the affair.) The president may have also worried about the risk to the economy of any Nvidia turmoil—both because of the midterm elections and because his own portfolio has grown enormously during the AI boom.
Trump was similarly indifferent to the national-security risks of the war in Iran. (Some of his advisers reportedly understood this but did little to dissuade him.) The administration couched the war in terms of eliminating the threat of a nuclear Iran, but given that U.S. intelligence had deemed the program moribund, and given that the Trump administration had claimed to have destroyed the program in 2025, the justification made little sense. And by embarking on a war with no clear strategy or planning, the U.S. has badly depleted its stores of missiles and other munitions, which will spell danger in the event of another conflict. The war has created divisions among American allies and shown that the United States is unable to win a war or guarantee freedom of navigation in the Persian Gulf, all of which weaken its long-term strategic positioning.
Not every decision is as consequential as the Iran war, but Trump has repeatedly chosen personal or short-term political gain over American security and national priorities. Accepting the gift of a 747 from Qatar was neither ethical nor a wise security choice—as became clear when Trump had to do his Turkish tarmac turnaround and board a safer plane in August. The president chose his own interests—both flattery and a splashy if minor diesel-fuel deal—in once more embracing Vladimir Putin and distancing himself from Ukraine in October. And as I argued in September, Trump’s decision to treat Venezuela as a vassal state and stifle the popularly supported María Corina Machado is likely to harm American regional interests over time while yielding limited benefits now.
To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, those who would choose some short-term personal benefit over long-term national interest may end up losing both. If Trump hoped that overlooking Huang’s liabilities would prevent turmoil, the bet didn’t pay off. The Wall Street Journal reported this evening that Nvidia’s board is preparing to oust Huang, after a report late today of another affair, this one with a subordinate. Huang’s behavior has become both a political scandal and an economic liability, after Nvidia’s stock slid over the past few days. What harm this whole incident may have done to national security may not be clear for months or years to come.
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Today’s News
- The White House warned incoming House Oversight Committee Chairman Robert Garcia that the Trump administration “will not be extorted” by congressional investigations, cautioning that certain actions could amount to “blatant criminality.” Garcia rejected the warning, saying Congress will not be deterred by “baseless threats from a weaponized DOJ or from the President’s lawyers.”
- Russia and Ukraine agreed in principle to a large prisoner exchange after two days of U.S.-mediated peace talks in Abu Dhabi ended without a major breakthrough. Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff are scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin tomorrow before traveling to Ireland to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
- A 41-year-old U.S. Army officer assigned to a NATO unit in Britain was arrested yesterday on suspicion of spying for Russia, British police said. The officer, who had access to sensitive information, remains in custody as British and U.S. authorities investigate, while the Kremlin denies any involvement.
Dispatches
- Work in Progress: Rogé Karma reports on the perverse reason health-care costs are about to surge.
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Evening Read
The Stealth Friendship Killer
By Olga Khazan
Scientists have identified the three leading killers of mom-friend plans: the never-ending day-care virus, the sitter who bailed, and the mysterious vortex that is “out of town.” The first two are unavoidable, but the third is a choice that society, collectively, seems to be making more and more. Out of town is where all of your friends are when you’ve finally decided to host a playdate. Out of town is where everyone is for the entirety of August. Want to grab a drink? I would love to, but I am, well, you get it.
Several caveats apply. We don’t know whether Americans are actually making more weekend trips; the most recent large-scale, comprehensive assessment on the topic was conducted in 1995. The most common reasons that Americans gave last year for not spending more time with their friends were their own mental-health issues, not having enough money, and being too busy; travel didn’t appear anywhere in the top six. And going away is not an entirely bad thing.
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Culture Break
Read. What Remains, a new book by the Galician writer Brais Lamela, chronicles the drive that many have to touch history, no matter how elusive it is, Lily Meyer writes.
Explore. Kelsey Ables traces how ugly metro sweaters became chic.
Rafaela Jinich contributed to this newsletter.
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The post Trump Is Conspicuously Playing Dumb About Jensen Huang appeared first on The Atlantic.
