US president Donald Trump said he spoke to the Taiwanese-born tech boss 'to see if he's feeling alright'. (EPA Images pic)WASHINGTON: US president Donald Trump took a sympathetic tone towards Jensen Huang on Monday, saying the Nvidia CEO was "suffering greatly" and didn't know a woman he had an affair with was an alleged Chinese spy.

Trump also danced around the question of when he personally was aware of intelligence linking the chip boss to Alice Huang, a Chinese executive who had allegedly been funneling information to Beijing.

The US leader said he had spoken to Huang earlier on Monday "to see if he's feeling alright," calling the Taiwanese-born tech boss an "amazing guy".

"I asked him that question, 'did you have any idea that she was a spy?' He said, 'I had no idea that she was a spy,' and I really believe him," Trump told reporters at the White House.