Trump Nvidia stock purchases: watchdog says he bought up to $5 million before easing AI chip curbs on China

Trump Nvidia stock purchases are at the centre of a new conflict-of-interest row. The anti-corruption group DeKleptocracy says his financial disclosures show he bought between $1 million and $5 million of Nvidia shares days before his administration scrapped a Biden-era AI chip export framework in May last year, Outlook India reported on Saturday.

What the Trump Nvidia stock disclosures show

The filings show heavy buying of Nvidia shares only days before Trump’s decision to drop the rule, according to the report. The Biden framework had placed countries that import AI chips into three groups: allies, others and countries of concern. The administration justified the repeal by saying the rules burdened firms and held back innovation.

Nvidia’s share price rose immediately after the withdrawal was announced, the Guardian said, as quoted by the Seoul Economic Daily. China accounted for roughly a quarter of the chipmaker’s sales.

DeKleptocracy also found that Trump bought Nvidia shares at least three more times, each worth between $250,000 and $500,000. The Guardian reported that these purchases came shortly after he said in December 2025 that he would allow H200 chip sales in China. The analysis said shares in Apple, Meta and Microsoft were also among his purchases.

Key numbers

• $1 million to $5 million: Nvidia shares bought days before the May decision, per Outlook India.
• 3 or more: later purchases of $250,000 to $500,000 each, per the same report.
• About a quarter: China’s share of Nvidia’s sales, according to Outlook.
• $26 million: donations by Nvidia and Jensen Huang to Trump’s projects, said House Democrats in a Ways and Means release.

What House Democrats said

Neal and Wyden said they are beginning to investigate amid reports that Huang, the former Nvidia chief executive, had a relationship with an alleged Chinese intelligence asset. Huang resigned on Thursday. According to press reports cited in the release, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trump were briefed about the relationship but approved exports of advanced AI chips to China.

The scheme, they wrote, “raises serious concerns within our Committees’ jurisdiction over matters relating to taxation and tariffs”. They asked the Commerce Department to preserve records on its semiconductor investigation and on Nvidia’s export licences.

Background: Jensen Huang and the AI diffusion framework

Under the arrangement the Democrats describe, Nvidia chips made in Taiwan could be sold to Chinese companies if first imported into the United States for a security review. That would require a 25 per cent tariff under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. Commerce would then grant an export licence.

NIS has covered Huang’s resignation, the board’s push to remove him and his agreement to appear before Congress.

What happens next

The Trump Nvidia stock questions arrive as the White House prepares for the Shenzhen talks with Putin and Xi on 19 November. The reports reviewed carry no White House response to DeKleptocracy’s analysis. Neal and Wyden want the Commerce records kept intact while their inquiry begins.