US President Donald Trump has instructed Vice President JD Vance to focus on domestic politics, saying: “We don’t need a deal with Iran.”

After Vance concluded that the Iran war led to the Republicans’ surprising midterm defeat, Trump refocused his second-in-command and ordered him to go after Democratic administrations, which the president described as “CORRUPT AND EVIL”.

Oil prices rose and stocks fell as Trump’s post brought renewed uncertainty to a market that had been acting as though the Iran war was nearly over.

“We don’t need a deal with Iran. Those days are long gone,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump said he wanted Vance to focus “his total and complete attention” on alleged “corruption and crime” in Democratic-run cities and states, citing Minnesota, California and Illinois.

Vance had taken over as chair of the Fraud Elimination Task Force, which Trump established by executive order earlier this year.

According to Axios reporter Barak Ravid, Vance has recently been playing an active role in an effort to secure a new ceasefire with Iran and restart nuclear negotiations.

Ravid reported that Vance had emerged as a sceptical voice on the war within Trump’s inner circle and had led US negotiating delegations after the conflict began.

Vance offered a surprisingly candid assessment of the heavy midterm defeat, writing in a post on X last week: “The reason we lost is the war.”

Vance continued:

“If you want to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, go ahead. Argue that it was a worthy price to pay. Agree or disagree, at least that is an honest stance. But everyone knows why we lost.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio met his G7 counterparts in Paris on Tuesday. During the meeting, Rubio said Trump had considered restarting the war or making a deal, but decided instead to “strangle the Iranian regime”.

Rubio hinted he was sceptical about diplomatic progress, and Trump’s post suggests that door is closed for now.

Senior White House officials are discussing whether to dismiss US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick following the espionage scandal at Nvidia and the dismissal of Jensen Huang, Reuters reported, citing two sources familiar with the matter.

According to the report, criticism of Lutnick is linked to the administration’s refusal to add dozens of Chinese companies to the main US trade blacklist and insufficient oversight of Nvidia chip exports to China.

Washington has reportedly not expanded the list since October 2025 in order to avoid escalating tensions with Beijing.

A White House spokesperson previously said President Donald Trump “has full confidence in the Secretary and his ability to carry out his duties”.

Pressure on Lutnick from the Senate and Treasury

However, senators including Elizabeth Warren are demanding an explanation from Lutnick and insisting that all documents relating to advanced chip exports and national security risks be preserved.

Members of Congress have also questioned Trump’s December 2025 decision to allow Nvidia to sell H200 chips to China in exchange for a share of sales, describing it as an “unconstitutional export tax”.

Axios reported on 11 November, citing sources close to the matter, that US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent asked Lutnick why Nvidia customer Megaspeed had not been placed on the US Commerce Department’s export restrictions list, known as the Entity List.

According to the report, administration and intelligence officials have been urging Lutnick and his closest advisers to take action against the company since autumn 2025, without success.

Megaspeed is at the centre of the scandal surrounding Nvidia’s dismissed chief executive, Jensen Huang.

US intelligence agencies suspected the company’s former executive, Alice Huang, of having ties to Chinese intelligence and gathering information on the Nvidia executive.

It later emerged that the two were in a romantic relationship.

US authorities are also examining whether Megaspeed played a role in circumventing restrictions on shipments of US artificial intelligence chips to China.

The Nvidia board of directors is preparing to oust company founder and Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The same sources said a board meeting to address Huang’s future could take place today.

Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar with the situation, that Nvidia’s board has hired an outside firm to identify potential candidates to succeed Huang.

The source told the news agency that company leadership is also considering the option of appointing an interim executive until a permanent successor is found.

Sources for CBS News reported that US President Donald Trump’s administration is aware of the Nvidia board’s plans.

The New York Times previously reported, citing its own sources, that Huang, who was under investigation over his links to Megaspeed executive Alice Huang, had engaged in an extramarital affair with a subordinate.

US intelligence agencies assess that Alice Huang was recruited by China’s Ministry of State Security.

According to the NYT, the affair involved Nvidia Vice President Kimberly Powell.

Two former company employees recounted that moments of Huang and Powell showing affection toward each other were captured on video during a company conference held at a hotel in California.

The NYT specifically noted that it had not viewed this video recording.

Both Huang and Powell are married to other people.

Against the backdrop of these developments, TradingView data showed Nvidia shares dropped abruptly from $165.26 to $156.46.

As of 02:00 Türkiye time, the company’s shares were trading around $159, down 8.2%.

Suspicions regarding Huang’s close ties to the Megaspeed executive emerged in early November.

According to a Financial Times report, the connection between the two was not limited to close contact, but was romantic.

In an address to employees, the Nvidia CEO admitted to being unfaithful to his wife.

Apologising for the pain he caused his wife and children, Huang did not disclose the name of the woman with whom he had the affair.

Nvidia’s board of directors had announced the launch of an independent investigation to examine potential intelligence activity targeting the CEO.

It was announced that the review would be conducted by independent board members with the participation of outside legal counsel.

Emphasising that there was as yet no evidence that state secrets or proprietary Nvidia information had been compromised, the company expressed confidence in Huang and stated that he would remain in his post.

US President Donald Trump also voiced support for the Nvidia CEO, expressing the view that he should stay in office.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected the espionage allegations, describing them as groundless speculation and an attempt to smear the country.

According to a subsequent Reuters report, investors filed a class-action lawsuit against Nvidia and Huang.

The lawsuit accuses the company and its CEO of misleading shareholders by concealing the executive’s connections to the Megaspeed executive.