Trump’s Nvidia Buys Face Scrutiny Over U.S. Export Decisions

By Grace Kim

Trump’s 2026 annual public financial disclosure places $1,000,001 to $5,000,000 in Nvidia stock purchases on May 6, 2025, one week before Commerce announced the AI Diffusion Rule rescission. The trades were not newly disclosed. They appear in an 847-page OGE Form 278e covering 2025, which the Office of Government Ethics received on June 29.

The new scrutiny comes from placing those dates beside export-policy decisions. Democrats in Congress are investigating the H200 China deal. A Friday Guardian report, citing the anti-corruption group DeKleptocracy, said Trump’s accounts bought Nvidia shares around two decisions that helped the company. The report did not cite a new filing.

DeKleptocracy argued that the country “must grapple with how Trump’s corruption may have motivated him to deliver the entire AI industry’s technology to China.” That is the group’s allegation. The filing records trades and dates, not motive.

The report added pressure on the White House after former Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang resigned Nov. 12 amid reports about his relationship with Alice Huang. U.S. officials suspect Alice Huang of spying for China. The Guardian cited the resignation as part of the widening Nvidia controversy.

What changed in the AI Diffusion Rule?

Commerce announced on May 13, 2025, that it would rescind the Biden-era regulation, which would have capped advanced AI-chip exports to much of the world. Commerce also told enforcement officials not to enforce it. The Guardian said Nvidia shares rose after the announcement. It also said China made up about one-quarter of Nvidia’s sales from 2010 through 2022.

The rescission did not lift U.S. restrictions on chip sales to China by itself. Those restrictions remained until the later H200 decision. That distinction places the May purchase before a broad policy shift, not before the China approval itself.

What changed under the H200 decision?

Trump announced Dec. 8, 2025, that Nvidia could ship H200 chips to approved customers in China, with the U.S. government receiving 25% of the revenue. Commerce published the implementing rule in January 2026.

The disclosure lists Nvidia purchases of $250,001 to $500,000 on Dec. 9 and Dec. 12, 2025. It lists another of $500,001 to $1,000,000 on Dec. 17. The Guardian counted at least three purchases in the lower band during the days after the announcement. It noted that the filing lists the Dec. 9 entry twice, in what look like two account schedules.

Do matching megacap trades change the timing analysis?

An MLQ.ai review found the highlighted Nvidia purchases sat beside other large investments. On May 6, the same account bought Amazon, Apple and Microsoft, each in the $1,000,001 to $5,000,000 range assigned to Nvidia. On Dec. 9, Apple and Microsoft purchases fell into the same $250,001 to $500,000 band as Nvidia.

On Dec. 12, Nvidia joined Amazon, Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft and several index ETFs in that range. The largest Nvidia entry came Aug. 18, 2025, at $5,000,001 to $25,000,000. Apple and Microsoft purchases of the same size appeared that day. The matching entries fit the White House’s index-replication explanation, but the filing cannot establish intent.

What does the White House say?

In October, after Trump disclosed Nvidia purchases of up to $1.6 million and sales of up to $1 million for August 2026, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told Reuters that third-party institutions manage the portfolio. Those institutions largely replicate indexes such as the Schwab 1000.

“All investment decisions are made entirely by independent managers,” Ingle said. “There are no conflicts of interest.” The Guardian article did not include a response from the White House or Nvidia.

How does this connect to the congressional inquiry?

Earlier 2026 transactions had already drawn attention. A Jan. 6 Nvidia purchase of $500,001 to $1,000,000 came one week before Commerce approved some Nvidia chip sales to China. A Feb. 10 purchase reached $1,000,001 to $5,000,000. The Washington Sun, formerly NOTUS, reported both in May.

The August 2026 trades were disclosed Oct. 8, the same day Trump awarded Jensen Huang the National Medal of Science. On Nov. 12, Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Richard Neal sent Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick a letter. They asked whether political considerations shaped the H200 approval.

Their letter cited at least $26 million that Nvidia and Huang directed toward Trump priorities, including the White House ballroom. The Guardian noted Nvidia’s $25 million ballroom contribution in October 2025. MLQ.ai also maintains a Nvidia scandal hub for the wider chronology.

What remains unproven?

No regulator or committee has alleged that Trump directed the trades. Presidents are exempt from the main federal conflict-of-interest statute, 18 U.S.C. 208, but they must report their transactions. That reporting requirement, not an ethics finding, made the purchases public.

Congress still has to reconcile the independent-manager explanation with the policy sequence; for Nvidia, the open commercial question is whether the 25% China revenue share leaves room for competitive H200 pricing.