Nvidia CEO Meets Trump Before High-Stakes China Visit

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang met privately with former U.S. President Donald Trump this week, just ahead of Huang’s planned trip to China—an unusual back-to-back set of meetings that underscores the growing role of tech leaders in geopolitics.

The timing is no accident. Huang’s visit to Beijing comes as U.S. export restrictions tighten on AI chips and Nvidia faces billions in lost sales from its China business. He’s expected to meet with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Vice-Premier He Lifeng to secure approval for a new chip designed specifically for the Chinese market.

What’s at Stake

• Export bans are biting: U.S. rules have already cost Nvidia $2.5 billion in Q1 and could hit $8 billion in Q2, mostly due to blocked sales of its high-end H20 chip to China.
• Nvidia’s workaround: The company plans to release a China-compliant version of its Blackwell RTX Pro 6000 this September. The trip is intended to secure regulatory clearance.
• Strategic diplomacy: Huang is navigating between political power centers—first meeting Trump, then engaging Chinese officials—to maintain Nvidia’s dominance in a splintering global tech economy.

Nvidia briefly became the most valuable company in the world last month, hitting a $4 trillion market cap. Yet even with that momentum, the company faces tough questions about access to China, which makes up roughly 13% of its revenue.

Huang’s dual-track diplomacy shows how critical China remains to U.S. chipmakers—and how top CEOs are increasingly stepping into the role of negotiator amid rising global tech tensions.