Top Democrats Launch Congressional Probe Into Trump-Nvidia ‘Scheme’

A pair of leading congressional Democrats on Thursday launched an investigation into what they described as an illegal "scheme" by the Trump administration and the AI semiconductor giant Nvidia, whose chief executive resigned following revelations that he had extramarital affairs with a subordinate and a woman suspected by US intelligence agencies of being a Chinese spy.

In a letter to US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.) accused President Donald Trump and members of his administration of an "ostensible attempt to mask an unconstitutional export tax as a national security tariff action—benefiting both Nvidia and the Chinese government."

"The scheme worked like this: Trump would allow Nvidia to sell its Taiwan-manufactured H200 chips to companies in China, provided that those chips be sent to the United States to undergo a security review and receive an export license before being re-exported to China," the lawmakers wrote. "Trump then used Section 232 authority—which is intended to allow the president to address imports that threaten national security—to impose a 25% tariff to be collected when the chips entered the United States, effectively taking a cut of Nvidia’s sales to China through what appears to be an unconstitutional export tax system."

"The Commerce Department would then grant Nvidia export licenses so that the chips could be sold to Chinese companies," added Wyden and Neal, who are poised to lead the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee, respectively, in the upcoming Congress.

The lawmakers instructed the Trump administration to preserve all records pertaining to the tariffs and export licenses, as well as any communications with Nvidia and former CEO Jensen Huang, who announced his resignation on Thursday.

Wyden and Neal expressed alarm over reports that Trump and Lutnick were made aware of US intelligence indicating that Alice Huang—the Chinese businesswoman with whom Jensen Huang had an affair—was "funneling information to the Chinese government and facilitating Chinese access to advanced AI chips made by Nvidia." The New York Times reported that Trump "took no action" in response to the intelligence, which he was briefed on last fall.

During Trump's second White House term, Jensen Huang emerged as a leading ally of the president in the rapidly advancing artificial intelligence industry. Huang has been a frequent guest at Trump's White House and has donated tens of millions of dollars to the president's projects, including the ballroom.

Following news of Huang's resignation, Trump said the former Nvidia CEO "has done a fantastic job." The president had previously said Huang should remain the company's chief executive, calling him "an honorable guy."

Wyden and Neal wrote Thursday that "despite reportedly learning of Mr. Huang’s compromising relationship last fall, President Trump granted Nvidia permission to sell its advanced H200 AI chips to China in December 2025 in exchange for a cut of the export sales." Lutnick, too, received classified information warning about Jensen Huang's relationship with Alice Huang, according to Axios.

The lawmakers noted in their letter that Lutnick's Commerce Department halted an investigation into a Singaporean company suspected of smuggling Nvidia AI chips into China after an Nvidia executive intervened. The company under investigation was Megaspeed, where Alice Huang previously worked as managing director.

Facing subpoena threats, Huang agreed on Thursday to testify before House lawmakers in a closed-door hearing later this month, Bloomberg reported.