Trump Bought $1 Million in Nvidia Stock a Week Before His Government Approved Nvidia's China Chip Deal

May 25, 2026

President Donald Trump bought between $1 million and $5 million of Nvidia stock on February 10, 2026. One week later, Nvidia announced a multibillion-dollar AI processing deal with Meta, and the stock moved. The trade is one of more than 3,600 transactions Trump disclosed in a federal ethics filing covering the first quarter of 2026, with a cumulative value of $220 million to roughly $750 million.

A Pattern of Convenient Timing

The Nvidia purchase did not happen once. According to disclosures filed May 14 with the Office of Government Ethics and reported by NOTUS, Trump bought $500,000 to $1 million in Nvidia on January 6, a week before the Commerce Department officially approved the sale of advanced Nvidia chips to China. He bought again on February 10, a week before Nvidia's headline deal with Meta. The president holds executive authority over export controls that determine where Nvidia's most advanced chips can be sold, and his portfolio shows him buying the company twice in a row, each time directly ahead of news that lifted the stock.

Nvidia is not the only example. Trump bought $50,000 to $100,000 of AMD on January 6. AMD received Commerce Department authorization to sell into China on January 13. He bought at least $260,000 of Palantir during the quarter, and in February the company landed a $1 billion contract with the Department of Homeland Security to power Trump's deportation surge. He purchased $1 million to $5 million of Axon, the Taser maker, on February 10. Two weeks later, ICE outlined a plan to spend $220 million on new Tasers over five years.

$220 Million in Movement

The OGE filing covers 3,600 individual transactions executed between January and March 2026, with a disclosed value of $220 million to $750 million. Microsoft, Boeing, Oracle, Meta, Amazon, Walt Disney, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Broadcom, and Alphabet all appear in the report. Wall Street veterans pegged the pace at roughly 60 trades per day, which industry analysts told Axios looks closer to an algorithm than to a person who is also running the federal government.

"In the 40-plus years of my time on Wall Street, this is an unusual amount of trading by any standards," Eric Diton, president of The Wealth Alliance, told Bloomberg. Richard Painter, the chief ethics counsel under George W. Bush, was blunter: "We've never seen a president trading actively in the stock market before."

The Defense, and Why It Stalls on Contact

The Trump Organization says the president has no personal involvement. A spokesperson said his holdings "are maintained exclusively through fully discretionary accounts independently managed by third-party financial institutions with sole and exclusive authority over all investment decisions." The White House offered a parallel statement to NOTUS: Trump's assets are held "in a trust managed by his children," and there are "no conflicts of interest."

That defense runs into a structural problem. Trump signs the regulatory decisions that determine whether Nvidia can sell to China, whether Palantir wins the next DHS contract, whether ICE buys Axon Tasers, and whether Boeing keeps its defense pipeline intact. Even if the trades are placed by an algorithm with no input from the president, the algorithm is buying the companies the president regulates, and the timing aligns with announcements only the president and his cabinet know are coming.

"Let's also ensure that members of Congress cannot corruptly profit from using insider information." , Donald Trump, State of the Union, February 24, 2026

The Ban Trump Endorsed for Everyone but Himself

In his February State of the Union, Trump told Congress that lawmakers should be barred from trading stocks on insider knowledge. Democratic Representative Mark Takano shouted back from the floor: "How about you first?" Three months later, the OGE filing arrived: 3,600 trades, hundreds of millions of dollars, executed during the same window Trump was using the bully pulpit to call insider trading corrupt.

Federal records also show Trump filed the disclosure months late. Presidents are required to report transactions over $1,000 within 45 days. The Hill reported he was assessed a $200 late fee. His 2025 annual disclosure, due May 15, has not been filed at all. He asked for an extension.

What Counts as Corruption

No criminal charges have been filed. The Trump Organization insists the discretionary-account structure is a firewall. But ethics lawyers and former White House counsels are using a phrase the administration cannot easily wave away: corruption in plain sight. The president holds executive authority over export controls, defense procurement, immigration contracting, and antitrust enforcement. The same quarter, his portfolio bought stock in companies on the receiving end of all four. A discretionary account does not make that timing accidental, and it does not insulate a president from a public that can read a calendar.

Sources

Independent. Unfiltered. Unbought.

This is independent, sourced accountability reporting by Impeach 47. No corporate owners, no paywall.

Get new posts delivered free by email: impeachh47.substack.com.

Follow on X: @Impeach_47.

Follow on Threads: @impeach.47.

Follow on Instagram: @impeach.47.

Subscribe on YouTube: @impeach_47.

If this reporting is useful, the way you support us is simple: wear the movement. Every hat, shirt, and sticker from impeach47.earth is a walking billboard and the thing that keeps this research fed.