White House officials are discussing whether Lutnick should be fired, the Associated Press reported, after it emerged that a US intelligence report about Huang’s relationship with the alleged spy was circulated among senior figures in the Trump administration.

Lutnick is now scheduled to testify before Congress next month, just days after the ousted Nvidia chief answers lawmakers’ questions on Capitol Hill.

Lutnick is also facing criticism for a delay by the commerce department in adding Singapore-based Megaspeed, which is associated with Alice Huang and has bought billions of dollars of Nvidia chips in recent years, to Washington’s blacklist of companies that the US considers a risk to national security despite reported concerns within the administration.

Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, has “for months” been in favor of putting Megaspeed on the blacklist – but Lutnick’s commerce department “has the pen”, Bessent told CNBC. “You will have to ask them about their internal process,” he added in an interview with the network on Friday.