MS NOW’s Nicolle Wallace shared “shocking” new reporting from The New York Times, which she said could show that President Donald Trump is “asleep at the wheel in protecting U.S. national security.”

On Thursday’s “Deadline: White House,” Wallace discussed the Times’ “blockbuster” report about a Chinese businesswoman’s close relationship with Jensen Huang, president and CEO of Nvidia, the world’s most dominant leader in artificial intelligence chips. U.S. officials concluded the woman was a Chinese intelligence asset, according to the report.

“The discovery that Beijing was getting reports from someone with direct access to Mr. Huang, one of the most powerful figures in the A.I. revolution as well as an influential ally of President Trump’s, set off alarms at the White House,” the Times reported.

“What happened next,” Wallace said, “is the stuff of international political scandals.” The Times said Trump was briefed on the intelligence findings but chose not to act. He had “been wary of disrupting Nvidia’s chip sales, which are helping to drive the economy and the stock market, and of further complicating the trading relationship with China,” the report read.

“Donald Trump — the man who claims that no one is tougher on China than he is — does nothing,” Wallace said of the president’s reported inaction. She described “panic among our intelligence agencies as Trump sat by as a Chinese spy got dangerously close to the CEO of America’s most valuable company.”

Nvidia denied that its CEO had been targeted in a spy plot. The company told the Times that “Jensen’s interactions with Ms. Huang are not unusual or unexpected” and that he “talks with thousands of customer executives every year.” The White House, the CIA and the National Security Agency declined to comment, according to the Times.

Wallace also pointed to “close financial ties” between Trump and Nvidia that were described in the report. A person familiar with the matter told the Times that Nvidia donated at least $20 million to Trump’s White House ballroom fund. Earlier this month, Trump disclosed that he bought up to $1.6 million worth of Nvidia stock and sold up to $1 million in August.

Wallace said the report exposed a gap between Trump’s public statements and private behavior.

“Earlier this year, he cited the importance of protecting America’s technological secrets and beating China in the AI arms race as his entire rationale for why AI can’t and should not be regulated ever,” she said.

By that logic, Wallace said, Trump is “setting America up to be a great loser on the world stage, as he imperils U.S. national security in a matter that’s deeply entangled in his own bottom line.”

You can watch Wallace’s full comments in the clip at the top of the page.

The post ‘Asleep at the wheel’: Wallace slams Trump over China spy report involving Nvidia CEO appeared first on MS NOW.

MS NOW’s Joe Scarborough condemned Donald Trump for flying into a “crazed rage” after the president called a Reuters reporter “disgusting” and “a sick guy” for asking about the cancellation of his campaign visits to Kansas and Iowa. The MS NOW host said the president’s behavior should trouble both the White House and the American public.

On Thursday, just days before the midterm elections, the Republican National Committee announced that Trump’s planned weekend rallies in Kansas and Iowa, two states that have become increasingly competitive, were off.

“With Republicans in a strong position in Kansas and Iowa, previously planned in-person rallies in those states will no longer take place as scheduled,” the RNC said in a statement. Instead, the party said Trump would hold phone rallies in nearly 20 states to reach more voters.

However, on Friday, the president reversed course. A White House official told MS NOW that Trump is “expected” to stop in Iowa and Kansas on Sunday and said the rallies were canceled and then rescheduled to accommodate his telerallies.

Before the rallies were put back on the schedule, Reuters reporter Jacob Bogage asked Trump if the cancellations were because he was “sick of traveling.” In response, Trump berated Bogage and said he was “sick” to ask that question.

“You know what the reason is? I don’t feel I have to go to Kansas,” Trump said on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews. “You’ve been following me for two weeks. I feel perfect. You are disgusting. Put yourself in shape. You look like hell.”

On Friday’s “Morning Joe,” Scarborough said Trump’s stated reason for canceling the rallies didn’t match what he had heard from his sources.

“What he’s saying about canceling and why he canceled is a lie,” the MS NOW host said. “Yesterday afternoon, I got a call from Republican operatives who said, and I am quoting them: ‘This race has been gone for a week.’ That’s what Republicans are saying.”

Scarborough then turned to Trump’s exchange with Bogage, saying the president’s angry response to a basic question should concern his aides and the public. He said that Trump’s behavior should be “troubling for people inside the White House and for Americans.”

“People are asking him very simple, basic questions, and he’s just flying off in an absolute rage,” Scarborough said. “This has been happening now for a month or two, where a basic question any other president would answer, this one flies off in this crazed rage.”

“You just kind of worry if he’s OK,” he added. “I’m worried about him.”

You can watch Scarborough’s full comments in the clip at the top of the page.

The post Joe Scarborough slams Trump’s ‘crazed rage’ at reporter: ‘I’m worried about him’ appeared first on MS NOW.