New government records show that US President Donald Trump personally bought and sold millions of dollars’ worth of shares in major technology companies and government contractors earlier this year. There are some companies that are directly affected by decisions made by the Trump administration, which led to fresh questions about possible conflicts of interest.
The investment is in the limelight because its major portion is invested in Nvidia, the world’s most valuable chip company and a key player in artificial intelligence (AI).
Records show Trump bought between $1 million and $5 million worth of Nvidia shares on February 10. Just one week later, Nvidia announced a major AI-related deal with Meta.
Not only this, earlier, on January 6, Trump bought between $500,000 and $1 million worth of Nvidia stock and then a week later, the US Commerce Department approved the sale of some Nvidia AI chips to China.
These approvals are critical, as the US government closely controls the export of advanced AI chips to countries considered foreign rivals, including China.
Why Nvidia Matters So Much
The world is rapidly moving towards an Artificial Intelligence system, and Nvidia is designing advanced computer chips to power these systems. These chips are used in everything from AI chatbots to military and business technology.
Nvidia is also a huge US government contractor and emerged as a favourite investment option for investors and politicians due to the global AI boom.
Before the US government imposed stricter restrictions, Nvidia used to control around 95 per cent of China’s advanced AI chip market, which contributed to around 13 per cent of Nvidia’s total revenue. The CEO of Nvidia, Jensen Huang, previously said that China’s AI market is worth of $50 billion this year.
White House Responds
US ethics laws require presidents to report stock trades, although the exact amounts are only shared in broad ranges. The White House shared a statement regarding these claims and stated that Trump does not directly control these investments.
According to a statement from the Trump Organization, the president’s investments are handled by outside financial firms that make trading decisions independently. After the story went public, the White House also said Trump’s assets are managed through a trust run by his children and insisted there were “no conflicts of interest.”
US-China AI Chip Battle Delays Nvidia Sales
Recently, during Donald Trump’s visit to China, the US President gave a green signal to sales of Nvidia’s H200 AI chips to around 10 Chinese companies. However, no deliveries have happened yet. Companies reportedly approved to buy the chips include major Chinese tech giants such as Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance and JD.com. The distributors, including Lenovo and Foxconn, were also approved. But, Chinese companies have reportedly slowed down purchases after guidance from Beijing.
The delay is the result of growing technology rivalry between the United States and China. China is trying to reduce its dependence on American technology and grow its investment in local AI chip makers such as Huawei.
Chinese AI firms are increasingly promoting domestic chips instead of relying on Nvidia products. At the same time, Nvidia is struggling to maintain its position in China because of tighter US export rules.
Nvidia Caught Between Two Superpowers
The situation shows how difficult it has become for global tech companies to operate between the world’s two biggest economies. Nvidia remains the leading AI chip maker in the world, but growing political tensions between Washington and Beijing are making business more complicated. As both countries fight for leadership in artificial intelligence, companies like Nvidia are finding themselves caught in the middle.
