Trump Says Tim Cook Is the Only One Who Can Replace Jensen Huang

By Grace Kim

Nvidia's board said on Thursday that Jensen Huang had resigned immediately as president, chief executive officer (CEO) and a member of the board. Colette Kress, the company's chief financial officer and executive vice president, will serve as interim CEO.

Donald Trump said Tim Cook was the only person who could replace Huang. The U.S. president wrote on Truth Social, his social media platform, on the same day as Nvidia's board statement. That puts Trump's succession view alongside the company's narrower action: naming an interim chief executive rather than disclosing a permanent successor.

What does the leadership change mean for Nvidia?

The immediate change is formal. Huang's resignation took effect at once across all three positions, and Kress now holds the CEO role on an interim basis while remaining Nvidia's finance chief and executive vice president.

Her expanded remit puts the interim CEO inside the company's finance and executive structure. The report does not provide a permanent appointment, an end date for the interim arrangement or a transition timetable. Investors therefore have no disclosed long-term leadership choice to assess, only an interim operator and Trump's claim about Cook.

Trump's statement and the board's statement answer different questions. Trump identified the only person he believed could replace Huang; Nvidia's board selected Kress to run the company for now. The report gives Cook no role in Nvidia's own leadership structure.

What did Trump say about Huang?

Trump has repeatedly defended Huang, saying on several occasions that he had done a “fantastic job.” Those statements stand against disclosures about Huang's private relationships, creating a clear contrast between the president's assessment and the corporate response.

The relationship disclosures include:

• Huang has admitted to an affair with Alice Huang, who is suspected of spying for China.
• The New York Times reported the previous day that Huang also had an extramarital relationship with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia's vice president of healthcare.

The published account did not describe the basis for the suspicion against Alice Huang, the status of any investigation or Nvidia's response to the allegations. It also gave no terms for Powell's relationship with Huang and no indication of disciplinary action.

Who is running Nvidia now?

Colette Kress is the named interim CEO. In practical terms, she now combines the company's top executive office with its finance leadership, while Nvidia continues without Huang as president, CEO or director.

That structure resolves the immediate command question but leaves the permanent succession open. The disclosed arrangement identifies who will direct Nvidia in the interim; it does not establish who will hold the role permanently or how long Kress will remain in charge. The report provides no details on strategy, operations or governance beyond the leadership change.

What did Trump say about Tim Cook?

Trump wrote on Truth Social that Cook was the only person he believed could replace Huang. No further reasoning accompanied the claim in the report. Cook therefore appeared in Trump's account of succession, while Kress appeared in Nvidia's board statement as the temporary operator.

At an Oct. 8 event in Washington, D.C., Trump looked where Huang, described as the former Nvidia chief executive, was pointing. That photograph did not supply a succession detail; the reported business action was Huang's immediate resignation and Kress's interim appointment.

What does this change for Nvidia?

For customers, employees and shareholders, the disclosed change is concentrated at the top: Huang has left all three posts, and Kress is leading Nvidia on an interim basis. The report offers no figures for revenue, profit, market value or shareholder reaction, so it does not support a quantified assessment of the announcement's market impact.