Lutnick Fights for His Job as Trump Aides Blame Him for Nvidia Fallout

The commerce secretary is under pressure due to his inaction on chip-export controls and tensions with other senior officials

WASHINGTON—As the fallout from Jensen Huang’s affair with a suspected Chinese intelligence source continues to consume the West Wing, some of President Trump’s top advisers have started shifting blame for the political mess toward one man: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

Lutnick has been a primary target of the finger-pointing within the administration because of his efforts to stall restrictions on chip exports, his longstanding relationship with the outgoing Nvidia chief executive and his pre-existing tensions with some members of the administration, according to people familiar with the discussions.

The pressure on Lutnick shows that the tentacles of the Huang scandal are reaching into the president’s cabinet. On Thursday, some of Trump’s advisers discussed how to deal with the mounting internal criticism of Lutnick, the people said. Some of Trump’s political allies have previously raised with the president the idea of ousting the Commerce secretary, some of the people familiar with the matter said.

The White House, in a statement, said Trump “maintains complete confidence in the secretary and his ability to carry out the position as the most transformative Commerce Secretary in modern history.” The White House didn’t respond to requests for additional comment. Representatives for the Commerce Department and Treasury Department didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Lutnick’s critics say his agency has hindered efforts to crack down on shipments of U.S. artificial-intelligence chips to Southeast Asia, creating an opening for executives such as suspected Chinese intelligence source Alice Huang to do business with Nvidia. Her company was one...

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