I’ve been saying that the Nvidia scandal could finally push Republicans to abandon President Donald Trump—and supply the votes to impeach and convict him.

The first GOP rumblings have emerged.

To recap, Trump was warned that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was having an affair with a suspected Chinese spy whose company, Megaspeed, was under investigation by the Commerce Department for allegedly funneling restricted AI chips to China. Nvidia pledged $25 million to Trump’s ballroom. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick then resisted action against Megaspeed, and, after Nvidia intervened with Commerce officials, the Justice Department instructed the department’s investigators to pause their work.

Then, on the way to China in May, Secretary of State Marco Rubio reminded Trump of the intelligence about Huang’s relationship. Trump brought him anyway—and Huang joined part of the summit with Xi Jinping, on a trip where access to advanced American AI chips was a major issue. Trump knew about the suspected Chinese intelligence operation and still brought its potential target into meetings with China’s leadership over the very technology Beijing wanted.

Huang resigned Thursday amid the fallout.

So did Nvidia buy protection while Trump brushed aside warnings that his close ally posed a national security risk?

It sure looks that way.

Republicans have spent years obsessing over the Chinese Communist Party. I’ve wondered whether they would abandon those concerns at Trump’s behest, just as they’ve done with Vladimir Putin and Russia, or muster some actual outrage.

We’re seeing the first signs of the latter, with attention focused on Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

“The obvious question is why did [Lutnick] choose to sell advanced chips?” GOP Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana told Politico Wednesday, implying that Lutnick wilfully looked the other way while he knew that Nvidia chips were being illegally funneled to China.

He continued, “Secretary Lutnick needs to answer that in front of God and country. If I were he, I’d call a press conference this afternoon and explain what happened and why he agreed to sell them chips, and I would stop doing it.”

Meanwhile, on CNBC Wednesday, GOP Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota demanded Huang’s resignation.

“I can’t believe we are even considering him not resigning,” he said. “It’s like my God, this is a guy that’s right now so vulnerable to extortion, blackmail. I just don’t think, as a national security matter, we can run the risk.”

Wait until Cramer follows that reasoning all the way to Trump.

Republicans are starting to stir on the House side as well.

“I’d say we want to get to the bottom of the matter and to really have transparency on this,” Rep. John Moolenaar of Michigan, chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, told Politico.

That’s a committee that Democrats should keep busy when they take control.

Moolenaar and the Republican chairs of the House Intelligence and Foreign Affairs committees wrote to Huang on November 4, requesting that he appear for a joint, closed-door briefing on November18. They want answers about Nvidia’s protections against foreign espionage and Huang’s affair with Megaspeed executive Alice Huang.

So congressional scrutiny may begin even before Democrats even take over.

For now, Republicans are focused on Huang and Lutnick, who should follow the former Nvidia CEO’s lead and resign. But they haven’t shown the same appetite for examining Trump’s role.

These are just the opening moves in what could become the defining scandal of Trump’s presidency. Once Republicans start asking who knew what, when they knew it, and why nothing was done, every road leads to the White House.

Democrats, meanwhile, are preparing to take the majority and calling for the preservation of records.

“Reports suggest that officials within the government—including at the White House, State Department, and Commerce Department—were aware of concerns about NVIDIA, its relationship with Megaspeed, and the suspected Chinese intelligence operation, yet did not move to block the continued flow of advanced AI chips to Megaspeed or other companies affiliated with the suspected operative,” Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Chris Coons of Delaware wrote in a joint statement. “Questions also remain regarding whether or not prudent defensive counter-intelligence action was taken or national security recommendations were overruled.”

Here’s the current timeline:

• 2024: U.S. authorities begin investigating Megaspeed over diverting sanctioned Nvidia chips to China. Surveillance of its CEO Alice Huang uncovers her relationship with Jensen Huang.
• August 2025: Nvidia’s general counsel contacts Commerce investigators, inappropriately invoking the name of Trump appointee Jeff Kessler, who reports to Lutnick. This appears to have been an effort to chill the investigation.
• October 2025: Trump is briefed on the relationship and the intelligence assessment that Alice Huang is a Chinese spy.
• Also October 2025: Nvidia commits $25 million to Trump’s ballroom and requests anonymity.
• Late 2025: The DOJ takes over the Megaspeed case, asking Commerce to pause its work. This seemingly kills the investigation.
• Spring 2026: Secretary of State Marco Rubio issues a classified warning about Jensen Huang’s relationship with Alice Huang, raising the alarm once again. He is ignored.
• May 2026: Trump invites Jensen Huang to join his trip to China after he was initially absent from the delegation, having him join mid-trip during a refueling stop in Alaska.
• Nov. 12: Jensen Huang resigns as Nvidia CEO

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