David A. Graham writes:

Sometimes a news story is important because it reveals information for the first time. Other times, it’s a big deal because it confirms what many people already suspected. The latest development in the story of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang falls into the second category.

As news of Huang’s extramarital affair with a suspected Chinese spy rocks Silicon Valley, Washington, and Wall Street, President Trump has pleaded ignorance. In particular, he has said he was unaware of the relationship between Jensen Huang and Alice Huang (no relation) when he traveled to China this past May. “No, I didn’t hear about it then,” he told reporters on Monday.

Almost immediately, The New York Times reported that in fact Trump had been warned by Marco Rubio, the national security adviser and secretary of state, while headed to China on Air Force One, just before Jensen Huang boarded the plane for a state visit. (In fact, Trump may have been told even before then: The paper previously reported that Trump was notified about intelligence findings on the relationship last year as well.) The new White House chief of staff, Stephen Miller, wants to crack down on leaks; he clearly has his work cut out for him.

A few important features of Trump’s approach to the presidency are on display here. First, he has abandoned the pretense of being tough on China, a major talking point during his first presidential run and term. Second, he ignores any intelligence findings that contradict his instincts. Third, this is the latest evidence that, as I wrote last January, Trump does not care about U.S. national security. That doesn’t mean he’s actively hostile to it, or a saboteur; he’s just indifferent to anything but his own interests. In the nearly two years since I first laid out this argument, the president has repeatedly bolstered the case.

When Trump was informed that China had infiltrated a tech company that is widely regarded as essential to the health of the global economy as well as a crucial force for maintaining American power and national security—such that the U.S. bans exports of its most powerful chips to China—Trump opted to do nothing and pretend he hadn’t heard. [Continue reading…]