Trump defends Jensen Huang, but other Republicans could turn up the pressure quickly Ben Werschkul · Washington Correspondent Mon, November 9, 2026 at 9:42 AM EST 4 min read NVDA -4.97% Trade NVIDIA on Coinbase Trading disclosure Trading disclosure The above button links to Coinbase. Yahoo Finance is not a broker-dealer or investment adviser and does not offer securities or cryptocurrencies for sale or facilitate trading. Coinbase pays us for certain activity generated through this link. Prices displayed are informational.
President Trump defended Jensen Huang on Sunday night, calling the embattled Nvidia chief "an honorable guy." But members of the president's own party have signaled they could offer more pointed questioning even before the Democrats take power on Capitol Hill in January.
Trump told reporters he thinks Huang should stay on as CEO, adding that he would even be open to having him along for a trip scheduled for next week to Shenzhen, China.
"I think he probably has an excuse for it," Trump said after Huang admitted to an extramarital affair with an alleged Chinese spy. "He's done an amazing job for our country."
Other Republicans have suggested they might be more critical.
Last Thursday, three influential House Republicans requested that Huang voluntarily appear for a closed-door briefing on his interactions with Megaspeed executive Alice Huang, with whom Jensen Huang has now admitted to having an affair.
"It is vital that Congress determines the extent to which U.S. national security has been placed at risk," the leaders wrote in a letter asking Huang to appear by next week or provide an alternative date by this Wednesday.
The committee didn't offer immediate comment on Monday morning about whether that would change, but other lawmakers weighed in on the quickly growing scandal. Lawmakers are returning to Washington this week following the election recess.
Outgoing Texas Sen. John Cornyn posted "Congressional oversight investigation needed."
Some members of Trump's team are also reportedly more wary of Huang. Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly personally oversaw a classified intelligence memo earlier this year that warned senior officials about potential issues, according to the New York Times.
Nvidia's board of directors has ordered an independent investigation of reports that the executive at a Singapore-based company with whom Huang was having an affair was working for the Chinese government.
In a statement Sunday, the board said it has "no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised."
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has denied any spy plot, calling the accusations "nothing but smears against China."
Yet the quickly growing scandal could change the tenor of Trump's travel to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' summit on Nov. 18 — whether or not Huang is in attendance.
The scandal could also boost momentum for action on the Multilateral Alignment of Technology Controls on Hardware (MATCH) Act, which aims to tighten international export controls on advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
The bill is already making its way through the committee process with bipartisan support, and 21 Republicans and 10 Democrats have signed on as co-sponsors.
This weekend's flurry of news "will likely strengthen congressional support for legislation such as the MATCH Act," wrote Raymond James' Ed Mills and Andy Kellam in a note to clients.
The bill, they wrote, "offers a narrower opportunity for Republicans to work with the administration on restrictions that preserve some flexibility for negotiations with the Netherlands and Japan, particularly regarding servicing existing equipment in China, while a new Congress [in January] could result in stronger restrictions or the removal of presidential discretion. "
Democrats, meanwhile, are calling for action now or next year. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who is expected to be the chair of the Senate's powerful Banking committee next year, said Sunday on CBS that "on the chipmaker specifically, this is an issue where we have substantial bipartisan support in the Banking Committee ... I'm on bipartisan bills in order to put more restraints on the ability to export our chips to China."
For the moment, Nvidia is promising no change in its approach. John Rizzo, the company's head of public policy communications, said in a statement over the weekend, "Today's news will not slow NVIDIA. Jensen is committed to continuing to lead NVIDIA as CEO without interruption."
Ben Werschkul is a Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.
