Trump approved Nvidia chips sale to China despite Jensen Huang warning

Trump dodging the president who was reportedly  repeatedly repeatedly warned multiple times about. the woman at the center of the Nvidia scandal  trying to seow confusion tonight after he was. asked whether Jensen Hong made the right decision  by stepping down. The big thing is was the woman. a spy? And I don't know if that's been determined  yet, but if the woman was a spy, yes. If the woman. was not a spy, perhaps it would be different. But,  uh, I can tell you this, somehow he'll end up in.

his feet. I mean, I know him. I know him pretty  well. I always thought of him as a fine man. He's, uh, I spoke to him yesterday. He's, he's going  through hell. All right. Those comments coming. amid growing questions about what the president  of the United States and members of his team. did after they were warned that the Nvidia  founder Jensen Huang was having an affair. with a suspected Chinese spy. Well, here's how  Republican Senator John Kennedy put it today. My.

jaw is still stuck on the floor. Um, I mean,  I'm not I I'm not naive. I'm I'm not Bambi's. baby brother. I know people have affairs. I  don't recommend it, but if you do, if you do, you ought to make sure it's not with a Chinese  spy. And tonight, two top Democratic senators are.

also asking the Trump administration to preserve  all documents tied to Nvidia's chip exports to. China. Because that's why this matters. And here's  why Trump himself matters a lot. Because Trump. was first told by US intelligence about Hang  and the suspected Chinese spy 13 months ago, according to the New York Times. The Times  reports that in October of last year, US intelligence officials told Trump about  the relationship and described Alice Hang as a. Chinese intelligence asset. Trump did nothing  about it at the time. In fact, in December,

three months after that warning, Trump approved  the sale of more powerful Nvidia chips to China. which is competing with the United States to rule  AI. Then Trump gets another warning in May of this. year. This time it was directly face tof face from  the Secretary of State Marco Rubio. One source. telling CNN that this warning happened aboard  Air Force One as Trump was traveling to China. just before Hang got on the plane and joined Trump  during a layover in Alaska. He then was with Trump.

in China alongside China's leader Xi Jinping. You  can see the two leaders greeting tech CEOs and. Huang and Trump continued to keep Huang close when  she was around. Here's Hong seated four people. away from she at a White House state dinner. That  was this September. Again, at that time were 11. months after Trump had been warned and after he  had continued to change policy in favor of China.

when it comes to Nvidia. And throughout  it all, Trump was not shy to praise Hong. If Jensen's happy, I'm happy. He's  an amazing individual. I'd like to. welcome a very great gentleman to  our midst. Uh Jensen Wong. Even. after the news broke publicly,  Trump did not change his tune. He's a great, brilliant person and we want to  protect our brilliant people. I think he's an.

honorable guy. I think he probably has an excuse  for it. I just know Jensen very well. I just think. he's a very honorable man. Again and again, Trump  was warned about the man running the world's most. powerful AI chip company. A man who sought and  won Trump's buyin on selling some of the most. important and powerful chips that China wants  to win that AI race militarily and economically. against America. The most powerful man in the  world, Donald Trump, was warned and did nothing.

about something that could threaten America's most  fundamental security. And that is what this story. is about. Now, Jim Kramer is going to be here with  me to discuss it all. He has my guest coming up. here just in a moment. He knows more about Nvidia  and Jensen Hong than anyone. But first, Kristen. Holmes begins our coverage out front at the White  House. And Kristen, what are you learning about. how Trump is reacting privately to Hang's ouster  and the Nvidia crisis? Well, Erin, this entire. episode encapsulates the one thing President  Trump cares about above anything else, and.

that's the economy. I spoke to a number of White  House officials, Trump allies, uh, Trump advisers. who all believe the reason that President Trump  kind of shoved this aside was because he knew the. impact that this was going to have on the economy,  that it was going to be negative. And we've. obviously seen this in the last couple of days.  And you heard President Trump really parsing words. there when he was talking to Steven Smith. That is  intentional, saying things like, "Was she actually. a spy? It hasn't been determined." Those are the  kind of things that President Trump would have. taken into consideration when deciding to stand  by Hang and stand by Nvidia in trying to keep the.

economy stable. And you see him even trying to do  that today. He was on True Social posting about. how Tim Cook should be the new leader of Nvidia.  Well, that is intentional. That is because Tim. Cook is a household name. He is stable. He has  been a CEO of a large na international company, a company that understands supply chain in Asia.  This is somebody who if he was to move into this. role would almost immediately stabilize Nvidia.  That is what President Trump wants right now. He.

wants an end to this crisis and to move forward  with the economy and again putting that above all. else above potential foreign risks or national  risks and instead just focusing on leveling. out the economy both in the United States and  globally. That is what I am told he cares about. really in this moment. All right, Kristen Holmes,  thanks very much. And out front now, Jim Kramer. of CNBC's Mad Money. Okay, Jim, there's so much to  talk about here because you know this story. I'm,

you know, you heard Senator Kennedy says his  jaw is still stuck on the floor. Um, okay. You. you have been covering Nvidia, got people in  on it very early, well before any run up. Um, so how do you feel as this is happening in the  past few days? Okay. Well, look, I first of all, there's no real crisis. The company's doing well.  It's not like they have no money in the bank and. it's still one of the largest companies. Uh I  Jensen did a series of ill-advised things. No. doubt about it. And he had to go. He had to go  because the the board cannot just stand by and. watch someone have an affair with a woman liaison  who might be from the communist party and then.

also another woman who is vice president in charge  of healthcare. Uh Kimberly Pal, someone I know and. just good executive. And so he had to go. But that  doesn't mean that the company's over. I spoke to a. half dozen people who want that job so badly.  many of them household names. It was not Tim. Cook. Tim Cook did an amazing he retired. He did  a phenomenal job. Created more wealth than anyone. But uh I what I don't understand is they tell me  when I say they I'm always going to be speaking.

of Nvidia. Nvidia whether it's a general counsel  or exactly they told me that look they went to. commerce and said look we've got this big account.  It was this is going to the commerce department. run by Howard Light. Now also listen, we got a big  client, a big kahuna client. They want to build a. super intelligence uh what's called basically a  neocloud hyperscaler and it's amazing and it's. in Singapore. Do we have a green light? This is  what the companies told me and commerce said you.

have a green light. So they went and did it and  someone like me who reads about the numbers and. talks to people said damn what a client. I mean  this is the kahuna client. This is fabulous. We don't sit there and say you know what this is  referring to mega speed. Yeah, because like look, it wasn't on the list. It wasn't on the no-go  list. If it wasn't on the no-go list and it's. and it's orders and some people say it was up to  22% of the business. Well, you know what? We don't. look through the orders. Remember who? Look,  you and I have go back a little bit. You know, I'm looking at the numbers. That's what I do. I'm  not looking at the numbers and asking them saying,

you know what, that one is from a communist spy  and it's going to end up with the PLA. I say, all right, good. Good client. could be like  corwe liberation army the the Chinese military. which and I guess that's the heart of this  is you would think if something like this. uh people are using Singapore to try to end around  and get the chips into China to get them to the. military you would expect commerce would would  know if there were suspicions that the CEO of. this company who wants this new policy is sleeping  with an alleged Chinese I think they talk to each.

other but at the time all we don't know so this  okay so so now let's if you could explain this. so Mega Speed this company that that sort of came  out of nowhere this Singapore company, but most. of these companies have come out of nowhere in  America, too. Okay. I wouldn't know any of him. if Jensen introduced me to him. So, Jensen is has  this idea. Okay. You were explaining to me his. idea is copathetic with Alice Hangs, whether it's  with her real idea or not, whether it's kind of a. meeting of the mind. They had they had a meeting  what he felt was a meeting of the mind. Right.

Okay. where they both agreed in building what  you're saying was this super intelligence like. basically as the US dollar is to currency Nvidia  American chips are going to want to stop Huawei. Aaron you have it so that the Chinese are co-opted  by using all the software and hardware that Nvidia. sells that yes that was set back to the country  now I once articulated a different position this. was before when when Biden was president and I  got schooled I got schooled by the people who.

run Nvidia and I had to change my mind. Said, "You  know what? You're right. Let's hook them. Let's. hook them on some American Opiate, our system.  Let's hook them on CUDA, which is the operating. system. Let's hook them on Nvidia. They won't know  what hit them. They will be all the things that. we think about ourselves. Oh, the Chinese are so  much more powerful." It was the only way to beat. them was to get them hooked on Nvidia. It made  sense. So, so, so you go from saying don't don't. the risk of getting into the military to saying  I buy into this because as the US dollar is, this was the example you gave me earlier, the  world's currency. We want Nvidia and American.

chips, GPUs to be Yeah. And Jensen told me over  and over again, you think the Chinese military. is going to use our chips? They'll think that all  our chips are infected with some sort of bug. They. won't do that. I was thinking, you know what? So,  so smarter than I am again. Okay. But but I this. is important because you're saying Jensen Hang  believed this before Megape enters the picture. So then he meets Alice Hong and whether we don't  know the details here on on what role she played. with the Chinese government or not but perhaps  suddenly he meets someone who wow believes believe.

agrees with everything he has to say. Yes, I want  two. It's like one of the funny Instagram Tik Tok. super intelligence mega center. Yeah. Well, look,  I don't want to make, you know, not me to judge. what the heck happened between those two, but I  will say that they did have a similar agenda. Now, I thought I still believe that the best way to h  to beat China is to stop Huawei. Remember, we they. are our enemy. And by the way, I'm I'm more of a  hawk on China than pretty much anyone in in the. media. But this was the way to beat the Chinese,  to make them come to kneel on our operating.