HMM: Lutnick stalled Trump’s Nvidia–China chip curbs after Oval talks.
On Thursday, as the spy scandal rocked the administration, Lutnick met in the Situation Room with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and National Security Adviser and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
During the meeting, Bessent confronted Lutnick about why his department has resisted implementing the export controls, particularly on Megaspeed, the company at the center of the spy scandal. The group sided with Bessent.
Lutnick appeared to agree, but then muttered under his breath, “I need to check with the president.”
Friction point: Lutnick’s seemingly innocuous comment raised concerns, the sources said, because officials have repeatedly believed the Commerce Department would impose the export controls, only to have nothing happen.
Not good, if true.