Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has thrown fellow top Trump official Howard Lutnick under the bus over his handling of the Nvidia scandal.
The intense rivalry between Bessent and the commerce secretary has been escalating behind closed doors since Trump’s return to the White House, but tensions finally boiled over in public amid fallout from the mounting national security scandal.
The Trump administration has faced questions about why Megaspeed, a major Nvidia customer, managed to escape U.S. sanctions.
CNBC’s Joe Kernen asked Bessent on Friday why the Singapore-based tech company was not placed on the entity list, which includes companies deemed a “national security list” by the government, for its ties to China.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent threw Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick under the bus amid the Nvidia fallout and escalating national security concerns.
“I can tell you there was coordination. Treasury, War, USTR (Office of the U.S. Trade Representative) and State were in favor of putting Megaspeed on the entity list for months,” Bessent said.
“But Commerce has the pen. Commerce BIS has the pen, and you will have to ask them about their internal process,” he added, referencing the Bureau of Industry and Security.
Bessent’s public pointing of the finger at Lutnick comes after Trump ally Jensen Huang resigned as Nvidia’s CEO over his affair with Alice Huang, a former Megaspeed executive whom U.S. intelligence officials have identified as a suspected Chinese spy.
The 63-year-old also allegedly had affairs with two Nvidia subordinates.
The tension between Bessent and Lutnick over Megaspeed led to a confrontation between the pair in the White House Situation Room, Axios reported on Wednesday.
During the meeting, the Treasury secretary asked why it had not been added to the entity list, and Lutnick said he would look into it. The Commerce Department denied the confrontation took place.
Trump was said to have told Jensen Huang to fight for his job as the tech executive’s multiple affairs came to light. Huang resigned from Nvidia on Thursday.
But Bessent’s fury at Lutnick, who called “an idiot” to his face, according to the book Regime Change, could barely be contained on Friday on CNBC’s Squawk Box, when the Treasury secretary was asked if someone in the Trump administration needed to be held accountable.
“I’m not sure what you mean by how Treasury is going to handle the situation,” Bessent told Kernen. “We come in every day and do our job as prescribed.”
When Kernen noted there would be an oversight investigation, and whether it would strictly focus on Commerce, Bessent emphasized that it was a Commerce Department “function.”
Lutnick has agreed to testify voluntarily before the Senate Banking Committee, after Chairman Tim Scott sent a letter to Lutnick requesting an appearance on December 3.
Photos showing Jensen Huang and Alice Huang, the suspected Chinese spy he admitted to having had an affair with but claims he did not know about any espionage operation, were posted on her WeChat account.
Megaspeed is facing scrutiny for suspected shipments of advanced chips from Nvidia to China after it was reported to have purchased more than $4.8 billion in processors, which could have then been rerouted to Chinese firms in breach of U.S. export restrictions.
Nvidia revealed it was investigating Jensen Huang over the weekend after he informed directors of his relationship with Alice Huang, but insisted he did not know she was a suspected Chinese spy.
Huang resigned from the company on Thursday. He has been summoned by three House committees for a closed-door interview on December 1.
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