Filings Show Trump Bought Up to $5 Million in Nvidia Shares
Key Facts
Donald Trump bought between $1 million and $5 million worth of Nvidia shares in the days before his administration rescinded the Biden rule on artificial intelligence chip exports, the Guardian reported, citing his financial disclosures. The timing of the transactions puts the president’s investments at the center of debate over the links between financial interests and US export policy. The newspaper said Trump’s purchases also included shares in Apple, Meta and Microsoft. The administration rescinded the rule in May 2025, in a move affecting the potential export of the most advanced US AI chips to China. The purchases were disclosed in a Guardian report published on November 13, 2026; the buying and rescission took place in 2025.
The US Commerce Department announced on May 13, 2025, that it was rescinding the AI Diffusion Rule, issued on January 15 that year, with compliance requirements scheduled to take effect on May 15. The Bureau of Industry and Security said the rule would not be implemented and that it planned to issue a replacement rule in the future. The under secretary of commerce for industry and security directed enforcement officials not to enforce the Biden administration rule. The decision followed the government’s notification to Nvidia on April 9, 2025, that exports of H20 products to China required a license. The company said the licensing requirements resulted in a $4.5 billion charge tied to excess H20 inventory and purchase obligations in the first quarter of its fiscal 2026.
Nvidia added that export restrictions would reduce its projected H20 revenue by about $8 billion in its forecast for the second quarter of fiscal 2026. In the quarter ended April 27, 2025, the company reported revenue of $44.1 billion, up 69% year over year and 12% from the previous quarter. The figures show the extent of the company’s exposure to changing export rules, at a time when the Chinese market had historically accounted for a significant share of its sales. The Guardian said China accounted for about a quarter of Nvidia’s sales between 2010 and 2022. That exposure makes access to the Chinese market an important factor in the debate over chip controls, alongside the restrictions’ direct effect on the company’s products and revenue.
The Guardian noted that Nvidia shares rose after Trump announced the rule’s rescission, after he had bought the stock. On May 7, 2025, the shares rose more than 3% in late trading after a report that the administration was moving to rescind the AI Diffusion Rule, reversing an earlier decline. In the week the Guardian report was published, the company’s shares closed at $178.67 on November 9, 2026, then $168.89 on November 10 and $173.73 on November 11. The closing price fell to $166.19 on November 12, then to $162.85 on November 13. These prices date the stock’s moves to the trading days before the report was published, while the rise linked to the rule’s rescission occurred in May 2025.
Disclosures filed with the Office of Government Ethics show other transactions in Nvidia shares in Trump’s name, including a sale dated March 17, 2026, valued between $500,001 and $1,000,000, according to a disclosure dated May 8, 2026. The later transaction is part of a broader trading record, while the Guardian report focuses on the Nvidia share purchase before the rule was rescinded in 2025. In Washington, lawmakers from both parties are preparing to use the issue to push for tighter technology export restrictions, the Associated Press reported. The effort is linked to Trump’s planned visit to China to meet President Xi Jinping in the week after the report. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said his department, the State and Defense departments, and the US trade representative had supported placing Singapore-based Megaspeed International on the export control list for months, but said the decision was the Commerce Department’s responsibility.