Follow-Up: Bessent Publicly Faults Commerce for Delay in Blacklisting Megaspeed; White House Says Trump Retains Full Confidence in Lutnick

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday publicly accused the Commerce Department of delaying action to label Nvidia customer Megaspeed a possible national security threat. Speaking on CNBC, Bessent said the Treasury, the State Department, the Pentagon and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative all favored placing Megaspeed on the export-control Entity List, but that the Commerce Department holds the pen: "Commerce…has the pen. You would have to ask them about their internal processes." It was the first time since Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's resignation that a Trump cabinet member has publicly pointed responsibility for chip leakage at the Commerce Department led by Secretary Howard Lutnick.

Bessent said President Trump had made it very clear that China should not receive Nvidia chips above a certain technological level, and that any leakage was frustrating because it hurts U.S. companies in the super intelligence (SI) race and gives China an advantage. Asked about reports that he confronted Lutnick in the White House Situation Room last week, Bessent did not deny it, saying only: "We don't repeat conversations in the Situation Room."

According to CNN, as the fallout from Huang's resignation continues, some Trump advisers have begun discussing whether Lutnick should be dismissed, and Trump himself has fielded calls from administration officials and outside advisers raising alarms about Lutnick; it remains unclear what he will do. The White House stood by Lutnick in a statement issued Thursday, before Bessent's comments, saying Trump "maintains complete confidence in the secretary and his ability to carry out the position as the most transformative Commerce Secretary in modern history." Lutnick and Trump are longtime friends.

CNN previously reported that senior officials, including Lutnick, were briefed months ago about Huang's relationship with Megaspeed executive Alice Huang, yet Commerce has so far not placed Megaspeed on the Entity List. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said at a press conference on Thursday that the Justice Department has not concluded that Alice Huang was a Chinese spy, and said the FBI was of course investigating the reports; Trump, asked in an interview released Thursday whether Huang should have resigned, also said it was not yet determined whether Alice Huang was a spy. CNN has reached out to the Commerce Department for comment.

Background: Nvidia announced in an 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on November 11 that its board had accepted Huang's resignation as president, chief executive officer and director, effective immediately, with Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress serving as interim CEO and a formal search under way. GSM will continue to follow this story.

Related: Jensen Huang Resigns as Nvidia CEO, Effective Immediately: CFO Kress Named Interim CEO as Board Begins Formal Search

Source: CNN

Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)

Photo: 图：美国财政部长 Scott Bessent 官方肖像。照片：美国财政部，公共领域。 / Photo: Official portrait of U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. U.S. Department of the Treasury, public domain.

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