US President Donald Trump has come under scrutiny over his purchases of Nvidia shares ahead of key decisions by his administration to ease restrictions on exports of advanced AI chips to China, with Democrats beginning steps towards a formal inquiry into the allegations.
The controversy has intensified following the resignation of Nvidia co-founder and former chief executive Jensen Huang on November 12 amid reports about his relationship with Alice Huang, a businesswoman whom US officials suspect of spying for China. Beijing has dismissed the allegations against her as baseless.
According to an analysis by anti-corruption group DeKleptocracy, cited by The Guardian, Trump's financial disclosures indicate that he bought between $1 million and $5 million worth of Nvidia shares in the days before his administration scrapped a Biden-era AI chip export framework in May 2025.
The framework divided countries into tiers and was designed to restrict the export of advanced US-made chips to countries including China. Its removal benefited Nvidia, which would otherwise have faced constraints on sales to the Chinese market. The company's shares rose after the administration announced the rollback.
The Guardian also reported that Trump purchased Nvidia shares at least three times in December 2025, shortly after announcing that his administration would allow the company to sell its H200 chips to China. He also bought shares in other technology companies, including Apple, Meta and Microsoft, around the same period.
The report also noted that Nvidia contributed $25 million towards Trump's ballroom project in October 2025.
The allegations are based on Trump's publicly disclosed stock transactions and do not establish that he acted with improper intent. The administration has previously defended its decision to ease export restrictions, arguing that the earlier rules burdened businesses, stifled US innovation and imposed excessive regulation. No response from the White House or Nvidia to the latest report was available.
The controversy comes amid growing scrutiny of Huang's ties with Trump and the former CEO's push to maintain Nvidia's access to the Chinese market. US officials are concerned that a Singapore-based company linked to Alice Huang may have diverted restricted Nvidia chips to China. The allegations have prompted investigations and calls for congressional scrutiny.
Democrats have begun procedures for a formal investigation into the matter. Trump is also facing questions over whether his administration acted on intelligence assessments concerning Alice Huang. US officials have said he is not expected to raise the issue with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his upcoming visit to China.
Questions over Trump's Nvidia investments had surfaced earlier this year. In May, after his Beijing visit, Senator Elizabeth Warren described the president's alleged corruption as "a national security disaster".
Financial disclosures showed that Trump purchased between $500,000 and $1 million worth of Nvidia shares on January 6, while the Commerce Department approved H200 chip sales to China a week later.
Trump's son Eric denied wrongdoing at the time, saying the family's exposure to Nvidia came through broad index funds rather than direct purchases. Advisers to the president said the transactions were handled through automated portfolios.
