Lutnick stalled Trump's Nvidia chip diversion crackdown, report says

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stalled President Donald Trump's crackdown on companies suspected of diverting Nvidia chips to China, according to an Axios report citing high-level sources. Trump authorized the action, the third such crackdown this year, after consulting billionaire Elon Musk. Axios reported Lutnick repeatedly obstructed the effort, despite a Situation Room meeting where Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confronted him over his department's resistance to implementing export controls. Lutnick appeared to agree but said he needed to check with Trump first. The meeting included Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The report did not specify which companies were targeted or the exact nature of the diversions.