Jensen Huang was not supposed to be on Air Force One. The Nvidia CEO was initially absent from the White House’s official delegation list for President Donald Trump’s high-stakes trip to Beijing, which includes 16 other business leaders from Apple, Tesla, BlackRock, Boeing, and major financial institutions. But on Tuesday morning, Trump personally called Huang after seeing media coverage about the Nvidia chief’s exclusion, inviting him to join the mission. Huang boarded the presidential aircraft during a refueling stop in Anchorage, Alaska, transforming what had been a notable diplomatic snub into a signal of potential policy shift.
The Tuesday Morning Call That Changed Everything
The reversal began with a Truth Social post late Tuesday night, where Trump refuted an earlier CNBC report about Huang not being invited. « In actuality, Jensen is currently on Air Force One, » Trump wrote. The president later hit out at media coverage, posting that « unless I ask him to leave, which is highly unlikely, CNBC’s reporting is incorrect or, as they say in politics, FAKE NEWS! »
According to multiple reports, Trump called Huang after learning that the Nvidia CEO was not on the list of executives set to join the trip. « Jensen is attending the summit at the invitation of President Trump to support America and the administration’s goals, » a Nvidia spokesperson confirmed. The BBC understands that when Trump learned Huang was not on the original list, he called the Nvidia boss on Tuesday morning to invite him personally.
From Exclusion to Air Force One: How Huang Joined the Delegation
The original White House roster included a powerhouse lineup of American business leaders: Elon Musk and Tim Cook—who Trump again referred to as « Tim Apple »—Larry Fink of BlackRock, Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone, Kelly Ortberg of Boeing, and leaders from Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Visa, Mastercard, Meta, and more. More than a dozen US executives will join Trump on the trip, a White House official with knowledge of the plans told the BBC.
Absent from that original list was Nvidia boss Jensen Huang, whose company is central to the US-China rivalry over computer chips and AI. His absence was particularly notable given that Huang serves on Trump’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, alongside other business leaders including Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Oracle boss Larry Ellison. The late addition of Huang to the group underscores how AI chip exports have become a major focus of the rivalry between the US and China.
The $5-7 Billion Cost of China Export Controls
Huang’s presence matters because Nvidia sits at the epicenter of US-China technology tensions. The company’s advanced AI chips are subject to strict export controls imposed by the Trump administration, which has maintained limits on H200 AI chip sales to China citing potential military applications and requiring rigorous third-party verification before any shipments can take place.
The human impact of these restrictions became clear last month when Huang publicly addressed the damage to his company’s China business. « Nvidia has… 90-some odd percent of the world’s market share today, » Huang told the Special Competitive Studies Project. « In China, we have now dropped to zero. Conceding an entire market the size of China probably don’t make a lot of strategic sense and so I think that that has already largely backfired. »
That assessment carries significant financial weight. China represents roughly 20-25% of global semiconductor demand, and Nvidia’s exclusion from that market has cost the company an estimated $5-7 billion in annual revenue. The restrictions have also accelerated China’s domestic chip development efforts, potentially creating long-term competitors to American technology leadership.
Why Huang’s Presence Matters for AI Chip Policy
While Nvidia isn’t allowed to ship its cutting edge Blackwell chips to China, the Trump administration granted the company a license last year to ship its older generation H200 chips. Chinese authorities, however, have blocked the imports of these H200 chips, creating a deadlock that has effectively eliminated Nvidia’s presence in its second-largest market.
Huang’s inclusion in the delegation suggests the Trump administration may be reconsidering this approach. The president has indicated he intends to ask Chinese President Xi Jinping to « open up » to American companies so they can « work their magic » and push China to « an even higher level. » Trump added that he intends to make this his « very first request » when the two leaders meet.
Whether that translates into eased chip export restrictions remains unclear, but investors are betting that direct CEO involvement increases the odds of a breakthrough. The market reaction on Wednesday reflected this cautious optimism, with Nvidia shares gaining 0.61% to $220.78 as news of Huang’s inclusion spread.
The Broader Business Coalition and What Comes Next
The Trump-Xi summit, scheduled for May 14-15, marks the first US presidential visit to China in nearly a decade and represents a critical test of the fragile trade truce that followed a tit-for-tat tariff war. Those tariffs, which at times topped 100%, were paused in October 2025 after the leaders’ last meeting in South Korea.
Looming over the talks is the ongoing war in Iran, which has already forced a delay in the Trump-Xi meeting. Trump is expected to pressure China, which relies on Iran for cheap oil, to help facilitate an agreement between Tehran and Washington. China has limited oil supplies to Iran, but its vast reserves have helped it weather the conflict’s fallout better than many neighbors.
For Nvidia and the broader US technology sector, the Iran crisis is a distraction from the core issue: whether Huang’s presence on Air Force One can break the logjam on technology trade restrictions. The 0.61% gain seen Wednesday may be modest, but it reflects investor recognition that the CEO who lost China’s market through export controls is now in the room where decisions about those controls will be made.
📅 Published: May 13, 2026