United States President Donald Trump has weighed in publicly on the personal and national security controversy surrounding former Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang, revealing that he spoke directly with the chipmaker’s co-founder by telephone on Wednesday—just one day before Huang’s abrupt resignation. Appearing on the Straight Shooter podcast, President Trump stated that it remains unclear to him whether the Chinese businesswoman at the center of the scandal has actually been confirmed as an intelligence operative. "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," Trump remarked during the interview. The President’s comments come as shockwaves from Huang’s Thursday departure reverberate across Washington, Silicon Valley, and major global artificial intelligence engineering hubs in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, and New Delhi-NCR, where Nvidia’s hardware powers vital cloud and enterprise ecosystems. Even as Trump defended Huang’s technological legacy, fresh reports detailing relationships with multiple women—including senior Nvidia executive Kimberly Powell and another unnamed female employee—have widened corporate and congressional scrutiny.

What Donald Trump Said About His Phone Call With Jensen Huang

During his appearance on the Straight Shooter podcast, President Trump offered a candid glimpse into his Wednesday conversation with Jensen Huang as the 63-year-old executive fought to salvage his three-decade tenure at the helm of Nvidia. Describing Huang as a "fine man" and a "tremendous talent," Trump praised the co-founder’s unmatched engineering achievements in building artificial intelligence processors that global competitors have struggled to replicate. "He did something that nobody else, you know, you have China and these people, they copy. They pirate so much. Here's a chip that's so complex, so brilliant that you can't copy it," Trump said.

Recalling the personal toll the unfolding scandal had taken on the longtime Nvidia chief during their phone call, Trump noted that Huang appeared deeply distressed over the pain caused to his household rather than his own corporate standing. "I spoke to him yesterday. He's going through hell. What he feels most badly about is his wife and family. That's what he really told me," the President shared. Following Nvidia’s formal announcement on Thursday, November 12, 2026, that Huang had stepped down as chief executive, president, and board director, Trump also posted on social media endorsing former Apple CEO Tim Cook as his preferred successor, writing, "A Legend replaces a Legend!".

Alice Huang, Megaspeed, and the Unresolved Espionage Question

The central national security question referenced by President Trump revolves around Alice Huang, a Chinese businesswoman and former executive linked to Singapore-based data center and cloud operator Megaspeed. Megaspeed had previously secured coveted status as an official Nvidia cloud partner, giving it priority access to advanced AI accelerators. According to reporting by The New York Times, US intelligence officials suspected Alice Huang of maintaining ties to Beijing’s intelligence apparatus and passing sensitive information to Chinese authorities—an allegation that immediately placed US national security agencies and Nvidia’s board on high alert.

Earlier in the week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Alice Huang was the individual referenced in an internal email Jensen Huang sent to Nvidia employees on November 8, in which he admitted being unfaithful to his wife and apologized for violating her trust. However, official determinations regarding espionage remain publicly unresolved. Beijing has firmly denied that Alice Huang is a spy, while US Justice Department officials, including Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, indicated that federal inquiries had not reached a definitive conclusion establishing espionage. Additionally, Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs stated on Thursday that while Alice Huang departed Singapore in February and was barred from re-entering the city-state following an investigation into potential offenses, that inquiry did not involve espionage.

Kimberly Powell and a Third Employee Broaden Governance Probe

While questions surrounding foreign intelligence sparked Washington’s alarm, revelations of multiple internal workplace relationships ultimately sealed Jensen Huang’s fate inside Nvidia. Just days after his initial apology to staff, The New York Times—citing five people who had worked at the Santa Clara chipmaker—reported that Huang had also engaged in an extramarital affair with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s Vice President of Healthcare, who reported directly to him. According to the newspaper’s account, the two were captured on video behaving intimately at a hotel in San Jose, California, during an Nvidia technology conference in March 2026.

According to biographical details published on Nvidia’s corporate website, 48-year-old Powell joined the company in 2008 and oversees strategic initiatives applying Nvidia’s accelerated computing and chip architecture across higher education and healthcare, with a particular focus on artificial intelligence-powered medical imaging devices. Compounding the corporate governance crisis, Reuters reported on Thursday—citing two sources familiar with the matter—that Huang also maintained an intimate relationship with a third woman, another unnamed female Nvidia employee. Together, the three reported relationships raised severe conflict-of-interest and executive accountability concerns for Nvidia’s board of directors, which convened on Wednesday before accepting Huang’s immediate resignation.

Congressional Testimony and Nvidia's Post-Huang Transition

Although Jensen Huang has stepped away from executive leadership at the company he co-founded in 1993, the broader investigation into his conduct and export-control compliance is far from over. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill—including key House and Senate committees overseeing national security and technology exports—have moved to summon Huang to testify before Congress ahead of Thanksgiving regarding his interactions with Alice Huang and Megaspeed’s access to restricted American AI chips.

Inside Nvidia, interim leadership has passed to veteran Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress, who is steering daily operations while the board conducts a comprehensive search for a permanent chief executive. For global investors, cloud partners, and engineering teams across the United States and India alike, the coming weeks will test whether Nvidia can ring-fence its unmatched AI engineering engine from the personal and geopolitical storm surrounding its former leader.