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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent tossed Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick right under the bus when asked why a firm at the center of the ongoing Nvidia drama had not been added to a list of companies posing a national security threat. Bessent appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Friday morning, when Joe Kernen brought up reports about tensions between Bessent and Lutnick. Those dust-ups between the two have primarily been over a Singaporean data center company called Megaspeed, which is at the heart on the ongoing drama with Nvidia and its now-ex-CEO Jensen Huang. Huang resigned as head of his own...

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...

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confronted Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick last week over his handling of a Singaporean company at the heart of revelations about Chinese spying on Nvidia, demanding to know why the United States had not already banned sales of advanced A.I. chips to the firm. The exchange, which took place at the White House on Thursday and was described by people briefed on it, highlighted growing tensions inside the Trump administration over A.I. policy in general and the Commerce Department’s posture toward Nvidia in particular. The internal debate has only intensified after Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s chief executive, acknowledged...

James Comer's investigation alleged conflicts of interest among federal prosecutors and criticized work-release privileges FIRST ON FOX: The House Oversight Committee released a report concluding that prosecutorial failures, preferential treatment and institutional negligence allowed Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell to continue sexually exploiting young women and girls for years. The investigation, led by Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest involving federal prosecutors, financial institutions that overlooked warning signs of sex trafficking and individuals accused of facilitating Epstein's abuse. The report identified two former federal prosecutors whose involvement in Epstein's original investigation raised potential conflicts of...

Chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is supercharging an already massive US investment spree – pledging an additional $100 billion to meet surging AI demand. The move brings TSMC’s investment in the US to $265 billion and comes as the company posted second-quarter earnings that blew past market expectations Thursday. TSMC, which supplies powerful chips that are critical for tech giants like Apple and Nvidia, boosted its global capital spending plan for 2025 to between $60 billion and $64 billion. That record level marks an increase of about 7% to 14% from its previous forecast. Still, TSMC’s US-listed shares slipped...

Following direct remarks from both Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, a triggered Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says the U.S. will not be permitted to dictate terms of the USMCA renegotiation, now scheduled for formal talks with Mexico only beginning May 25th. According to the Canadian leadership they do not need the United States in order to maintain their economy. The unfortunate people of Canada are very close to finding out exactly what that level of arrogance delivers. USTR Jamieson Greer was just in Mexico meeting with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and the Mexican trade...

As media hype falters and globalists posture, Trump’s campaign to secure the world’s chokepoints reshapes power—and leaves Iran and its allies with little leverage left. Possibly the most amusing fake news item Saturday morning came from The New York Times. Under the rubric “Iran War Live Updates,” a headline screamed, “Iran’s Military Says It Has Reimposed ‘Strict Control’ of Strait of Hormuz.” To which an inquiring mind wants to know, “What Iran military?” It’s gone, Kemo Sabe. The floating bits are at the bottom of the sea. The terrestrial bits have been crushed, blasted, pulverized, or incinerated. Ditto most of...

An ‘Epstein Walk of Shame’ appeared overnight in Washington, D.C., with stickers dedicated to public figures associated with Jeffrey Epstein. On March 1, residents noticed star-shaped stickers placed around Farragut Square, each featuring an image of the convicted s- offender. On the lines of Los Angeles’ Hollywood Walk of Fame, each star on the Walk of Shame mentions the name and designation of a public figure mentioned in the recently released Epstein Files. Every sticker has a QR code, which, when scanned, directs users to the Department of Justice’s website page about the Epstein Files. Some codes link to pdf...

Representative Lauren Boebert has joined several lawmakers in expressing outrage over what she was able to view in unredacted versions of the Department of Justice’s documents on the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “Terrifying language in the Epstein Files I viewed yesterday,” the Colorado Republican posted to X on Wednesday. “Emails about torture. Frequent talk of ‘consumption’? A restaurant called ‘The Cannibal.’”

It's pretty amazing how standards have fallen at Davos, the pricey Swiss ski resort turned home of the so-called big thinkers and global elites.In other words, our betters.Here's one of their favorites in action, according to Mediaite:The heckler who booed Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and upended an event in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday has been unmasked, and he’s a familiar face in politics.Lutnick was speaking at an invite-only VIP dinner event hosted by billionaire BlackRock boss Larry Fink when a heckler, now identified as climate change advocate and former Vice President Al Gore, started booing the former Cantor Fitzgerald CEO.Gore’s...

Korea Zinc announced on Monday a $7.4 billion smelter project in Tennessee that will be backed by the U.S. government and which will lessen our reliance on China for critical minerals used in defense systems, electronics, and so much more that powers our modern world. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick took to X to laud the news: The tweet continues: Today, we announced a major investment with Korea Zinc to build a state-of-the-art critical minerals smelter and processing facility in Tennessee that will produce 540,000 tons per year of essential materials right here in America. He continued, listing a range of...

Over a single weekend in August, 1200 technology contractors found themselves locked out of their systems, their access badges deactivated, their projects suspended indefinitely. The mass termination wasn't the result of budget cuts or strategic pivots—it was the fallout from a corruption scheme that reached into the highest echelons of Walmart's Global Tech division. The retail giant's abrupt severance of ties with Caspex-sourced contractors followed the firing of a Global Tech vice president who had been orchestrating an elaborate kickback operation. Daily payments starting from $30,000 flowed from contracting agencies seeking preferential treatment in Walmart's vast technology ecosystem, sources familiar...

Top officials at the Pentagon are “thinking about” whether the U.S. should acquire equity stakes in leading defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Tuesday. The Cabinet secretary, in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” revealed the Defense Department’s interest in taking those stakes days after the U.S. government acquired 10% of Intel stock in a roughly $9 billion deal. Lutnick was asked if the Trump administration would repeat that move with other companies that do business with the government. “Oh there’s a monstrous discussion about defense,” Lutnick replied. Lockheed, which makes most of its revenue...

Korean Air announced a $50 billion order on Monday for 103 Boeing airplanes and GE Aerospace engines and servicing, coinciding with the visit of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung to Washington. The order, the largest in the Korean air carrier’s history, includes a mix of 787s, 777s and 737 Boeing airplanes worth about $36.5 billion. Reuters first reported the deal earlier Monday. Korean Air also announced a separate deal Monday with GE on the purchase and maintenance of engines valued at $13.7 billion. Many countries negotiating trade deals with the Trump administration have announced or plan to announce significant...

Key Points Trump administration military leaders are “thinking about” whether the U.S. should acquire equity stakes in top defense contractors, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said. Lockheed Martin, which makes most of its revenue from federal contracts, is “basically an arm of the U.S. government,” he said. Lutnick’s remarks on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” came days after the U.S. government acquired 10% of Intel stock in a roughly $9 billion deal. =============================================================================== Trump administration military leaders are “thinking about” whether the U.S. should acquire equity stakes in top defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin , Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Tuesday. The...

Conservatives are up in arms about Trump's decision to have the government buy a stake in Intel. Classic, textbook socialism. Trump sees the Intel deal as a first step toward creating an American "sovereign wealth fund," with many more investments to follow. This is about keeping America competitive with Communist China, which controls the world's second and third largest sovereign wealth funds. Traditionally, countries rich in national resources, particularly oil, have used sovereign wealth funds to diversify and grow their economies.

Fox Business’s Larry Kudlow expressed concern on Friday over the Trump administration’s move to take a 10 percent stake in mega chipmaker Intel. “I am very, very uncomfortable with that idea. I’m very uncomfortable with that one, but that’s a conversation for another meal on another day,” Kudlow told economist Stephen Moore, in an interview highlighted by Mediate. Moore himself, a Trump economic adviser, earlier in the appearance, also criticized the administration’s decision, calling it “terrible.” “I hate corporate welfare. That’s privatization in reverse. We want the government to divest of assets, not buy assets. So terrible, one of the...

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick canceled an Biden administration agreement Monday to distribute billions of dollars for semiconductor research through a nonprofit set up and staffed by former political appointees, according to a letter obtained by The Post. The 2022 CHIPS and Science Act provided for $11 billion in semiconductor research and development funding to be given out by the Commerce Department’s National Semiconductor Technology Center. “Rather than establishing these operations within the Department, however, Biden Administration officials spent significant time, effort, and resources creating an unaccountable, outside entity–Natcast–to administer taxpayer funds,” Lutnick wrote Natcast CEO Deirdre Hanford. Four days before...

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Thursday that TikTok will go dark for Americans unless China agrees to give the U.S. more control over the popular short-form video app. "We've made the decision. You can't have Chinese control and have something on 100 million American phones," Lutnick told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Thursday. TikTok's future in the U.S. has been uncertain since 2024, when Congress passed a bill that would ban the platform unless its Chinese owner, ByteDance, divested from it. Lawmakers had grown concerned that the Chinese government could access sensitive data from American users or manipulate content...

The preliminary agreement suggests there is a path forward to lowering the auto duties on other major trading partners, as well.President Donald Trump’s “massive” trade deal with Japan is buoying foreign carmakers — and alarming American car companies who fear they are now at a disadvantage.Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on all foreign auto manufacturers in early April, a duty that also applies to cars made by U.S. companies from parts imported from Mexico and Canada. But now, the president is planning to lower the tariff to 15 percent for Japanese autos and auto parts, the White House confirmed...