Trump’s Nvidia Trades and AI Chip Export Shift

Trump bought between $1 million and $5 million of Nvidia stock in the days before May 2025, according to his public financial disclosures.

The Biden administration had introduced the export control framework, known as the AI Diffusion Rule or the Framework for Artificial Intelligence Diffusion, in January 2025. It was designed to prevent the most advanced U.S.-made AI chips from being exported to countries that are not U.S. allies or partners, including China, Russia and North Korea. The Trump administration argued that the framework stifled U.S. innovation and imposed excessive regulatory burdens, and therefore rescinded it before it fully took effect.

The AI Diffusion framework divided countries into tiers, applying different levels of export restrictions to each. China, categorized as a country of concern, would have faced tighter limits on importing advanced semiconductors from U.S. companies. Between 2010 and 2022, China accounted for about a quarter of Nvidia’s sales, so the new rules would have constrained one of its largest markets. Analysts noted that, had the framework taken effect, Nvidia would have faced meaningful restrictions on selling its products in China.

After the rule was rescinded, Nvidia retained broader access to Chinese buyers for its high-performance chips. Scrapping the framework also avoided reclassifying dozens of countries into less favorable tiers, which the Trump administration said could have strained diplomatic relations. He also bought other large technology stocks, including Apple, Meta and Microsoft.

In December 2025, Trump announced that Nvidia would be allowed to sell its H200 chips to China. The U.S. Commerce Department approved this decision in January 2026. The H200 is described as one of Nvidia’s most advanced chips, with performance estimated at roughly six times what was then available in China. For Nvidia, reopening China to the H200 line represented potential upside in a key growth market.

Just days after the H200 announcement, Trump made at least three additional purchases of Nvidia stock. Each of these trades was valued between $250,001 and $500,000. These transactions followed earlier Nvidia trades and came amid broader adjustments to U.S. export controls on high-end AI semiconductors. The White House has said there is no conflict of interest because Trump’s assets are managed through independent blind trusts, and Trump has stated that funds manage his money.

Trump’s stock trades around these policy changes have drawn scrutiny and raised conflict-of-interest questions. U.S. Democrats have begun procedures for a formal investigation into the allegations involving Trump. Lawmakers are also watching his financial disclosure filings more closely as they assess the relationship between presidential investments and technology export policy.

The developments coincide with turmoil at Nvidia. Former CEO Jensen Huang resigned on November 12 after controversy over his relationship with Alice Huang, also referred to as Elise Huang, a figure suspected of ties to Chinese intelligence and formerly head of Megaspeed, a cloud partner of Nvidia. Megaspeed reportedly obtained large volumes of Nvidia’s advanced chips, and U.S. intelligence officials twice briefed Trump that they concluded Alice Huang was a Chinese asset.