Lutnick stalled Trump-approved Nvidia chip crackdown for third time, Axios reports

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has stalled a crackdown on companies suspected of diverting Nvidia's advanced chips to China, Axios reported Wednesday. Reuters, which summarized the Axios report, said Trump authorized the crackdown for the third time this year ¹. We could not load the Axios original, so the details below come from Reuters and other outlets repeating it.

Axios said Lutnick has repeatedly obstructed the crackdown ¹. According to the report, Trump consulted Elon Musk before giving the go-ahead ¹. The reporting rests on unnamed high-level sources, and Reuters said it was not independently quoting any named official ¹.

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Pressure inside the administration

Per the Reuters summary, Lutnick met with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Reuters said the meeting took place on a Thursday but did not give the date ¹.

Bessent reportedly confronted Lutnick about his department's resistance to putting export controls in place. Lutnick appeared to agree but said he needed to check with Trump, Axios reported ¹. Reuters said its summary included no comment from the Commerce Department ¹.

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The backdrop: a spy-tie scandal

The report lands amid questions about Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. The New York Times reported that U.S. intelligence tied a woman close to Huang to China's Ministry of State Security. Huang has admitted to an affair, according to coverage of the story ²³. Allegations about the woman are suspicions, not charges.

Raw Story reported that Lutnick received a classified memo about the relationship before his agency approved chip sales tied to China. Commerce did not comment to Axios on that ³. Trump said Monday that intelligence officials may have shown him the warning but he does not remember it. "Certainly, it didn't make much of an impact on me," he said ³.

Chris McGuire, a former National Security Council technology official, wrote on Nov. 8: "Commerce has done nothing to limit AI chip shipments to Megaspeed or Southeast Asia. Why?" ² Megaspeed is the company linked to the woman, and the New York Post reported it is under investigation over alleged chip smuggling ².

What happens next

Democrats say they will dig in. Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, wrote Saturday that Congress "will investigate and get answers" ². House Republican chairs have also asked for a closed-door briefing with Huang, citing national security concerns ². Democrats take control of Congress in January, which would give them subpoena power.

That matters because export controls only work if someone enforces them. If the reporting holds up, the president approved a crackdown three times and it still did not happen. That would point to a gap between what the White House says and what Commerce does. Lutnick has not answered that question in the coverage we reviewed.

The Record

1. May 14, 2026Reuters reported Commerce had approved roughly 10 Chinese companies to buy Nvidia's H200 chips ³.
2. Nov 8, 2026Chris McGuire asked why Commerce had done nothing to limit chip shipments to Megaspeed or Southeast Asia ².
3. Nov 9, 2026Trump said a warning about Huang "didn't make much of an impact" on him ³.
4. Nov 11, 2026Axios reported Lutnick stalled the crackdown Trump authorized for the third time this year ¹.

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<h2>Lutnick stalled Trump-approved Nvidia chip crackdown for third time, Axios reports</h2> <p><em>By The GOP Files Investigations Desk. This article first appeared on <a href="https://thegopfiles.com/story/lutnick-stalled-trump-approved-nvidia-chip-crackdown-for-third-time-axios-reports">The GOP Files</a> on Wednesday, November 11, 2026.</em></p> <p>Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has stalled a crackdown on companies suspected of diverting Nvidia&#39;s advanced chips to China, Axios reported Wednesday. Reuters, which summarized the Axios report, said Trump authorized the crackdown for the third time this year . We could not load the Axios original, so the details below come from Reuters and other outlets repeating it.</p> <p>Axios said Lutnick has repeatedly obstructed the crackdown . According to the report, Trump consulted Elon Musk before giving the go-ahead . The reporting rests on unnamed high-level sources, and Reuters said it was not independently quoting any named official .</p> <h2>Pressure inside the administration</h2> <p>Per the Reuters summary, Lutnick met with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Reuters said the meeting took place on a Thursday but did not give the date .</p> <p>Bessent reportedly confronted Lutnick about his department&#39;s resistance to putting export controls in place. Lutnick appeared to agree but said he needed to check with Trump, Axios reported . Reuters said its summary included no comment from the Commerce Department .</p> <h2>The backdrop: a spy-tie scandal</h2> <p>The report lands amid questions about Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. The New York Times reported that U.S. intelligence tied a woman close to Huang to China&#39;s Ministry of State Security. Huang has admitted to an affair, according to coverage of the story . Allegations about the woman are suspicions, not charges.</p> <p>Raw Story reported that Lutnick received a classified memo about the relationship before his agency approved chip sales tied to China. Commerce did not comment to Axios on that . Trump said Monday that intelligence officials may have shown him the warning but he does not remember it. &quot;Certainly, it didn&#39;t make much of an impact on me,&quot; he said .</p> <p>Chris McGuire, a former National Security Council technology official, wrote on Nov. 8: &quot;Commerce has done nothing to limit AI chip shipments to Megaspeed or Southeast Asia. Why?&quot; Megaspeed is the company linked to the woman, and the New York Post reported it is under investigation over alleged chip smuggling .</p> <h2>What happens next</h2> <p>Democrats say they will dig in. Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, wrote Saturday that Congress &quot;will investigate and get answers&quot; . House Republican chairs have also asked for a closed-door briefing with Huang, citing national security concerns . Democrats take control of Congress in January, which would give them subpoena power.</p> <p>That matters because export controls only work if someone enforces them. If the reporting holds up, the president approved a crackdown three times and it still did not happen. That would point to a gap between what the White House says and what Commerce does. Lutnick has not answered that question in the coverage we reviewed.</p> <p><em>Read the original, with every source linked, at <a href="https://thegopfiles.com/story/lutnick-stalled-trump-approved-nvidia-chip-crackdown-for-third-time-axios-reports">thegopfiles.com</a>. Republished under The GOP Files' <a href="https://thegopfiles.com/republish">free republishing terms</a>.</em></p> <img src="https://thegopfiles.com/api/rp/lutnick-stalled-trump-approved-nvidia-chip-crackdown-for-third-time-axios-reports.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border:0;width:1px;height:1px">

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Sources

1. Reuters (via MarketScreener), “Lutnick stalled Trump crackdown on diversion of Nvidia chips to China, Axios reports” (2026-11-11). marketscreener.com/news/lutnick-stalled-trump-crackdown-on-d
2. 2paragraphs, “Ex-NSC Official Challenges Lutnick Over Nvidia Chips, Alleged Chinese Espionage” (2026-11-09). 2paragraphs.com/2026/11/ex-nsc-official-challenges-lutnick-o
3. Raw Story, “Howard Lutnick in hot seat over secret warning on Nvidia CEO's suspected spy lover” (2026-11-10). rawstory.com/howard-lutnick-jensen-huang/

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