An analysis of financial disclosures by the anti-corruption watchdog group DeKleptocracy has raised conflict-of-interest questions regarding millions of dollars in Nvidia stock purchases made by US President Donald Trump around the time his administration eased export restrictions on advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China.
According to DeKleptocracy’s review of federal disclosure filings, Trump bought between $1 million and $5 million worth of Nvidia shares in the days immediately preceding his administration’s May 2025 decision to scrap the Biden-era “AI Diffusion Framework”—a rule designed to curb China’s access to cutting-edge American AI semiconductors.
Timeline of Stock Purchases & Export Policy Reversals
DeKleptocracy’s report highlights multiple overlaps between Trump’s personal equity transactions—which also included shares in major technology firms such as Apple, Meta, and Microsoft—and major White House decisions affecting Nvidia’s access to the Chinese market:
- May 2025 – Repeal of the AI Diffusion Framework: Days after Trump purchased between $1 million and $5 million in Nvidia stock, his administration rescinded the Biden-era export control framework. Historically, China accounted for roughly a quarter of Nvidia’s sales between 2010 and 2022, and Nvidia shares climbed following the policy reversal.
- December 2025 – Approval of H200 Chip Sales: In December 2025, Trump announced that Nvidia would be permitted to sell its advanced H200 AI chips—roughly six times more powerful than processors previously available in China—to approved Chinese customers, with the US Department of Commerce formalizing the approval in January 2026. Financial disclosures show Trump executed at least three additional Nvidia stock purchases, each valued between $250,001 and $500,000, in the days following the H200 announcement, alongside dozens of smaller transactions involving the chipmaker since taking office.
”While the country debates how a possible Chinese spy may have manipulated White House policy for one AI company, it must grapple with how Trump’s corruption may have motivated him to deliver the entire AI industry’s technology to China.”
— DeKleptocracy, Anti-Corruption Advocacy Group
National Security Debate & Congressional Scrutiny
The findings have drawn sharp scrutiny from foreign policy experts and lawmakers in Washington. The Council on Foreign Relations previously cautioned that clearing H200 exports could “supercharge” China’s domestic AI infrastructure and bolster a strategic competitor. Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers have launched an inquiry into the intersection of the stock trades and export-control shifts, adding to broader scrutiny in Washington surrounding Nvidia’s China business ties and semiconductor export enforcement.
