"Trump Bought Up to $5 Million Worth of NVIDIA Stock Before Easing Export Controls on China"

[Financial News] U.S. President Donald Trump is facing fierce conflict-of-interest allegations after it emerged that, just before easing export controls on AI semiconductors to China, he bought shares in NVIDIA Corporation, the company poised to benefit most, worth as much as $5 million (about 6.7 billion won).
On the 14th (local time), foreign media outlets including the UK’s The Guardian reported this, citing an analysis of Trump’s financial disclosure records by the anti-corruption watchdog DeKleptocracy.
According to the analysis, Trump made concentrated purchases of NVIDIA shares worth $1 million to $5 million (about 1.33 billion to 6.68 billion won) just days before abruptly scrapping the AI Diffusion Framework in May last year, a key export control system introduced by the administration of former President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. He also bought shares in other major technology companies, including Apple, Meta and Microsoft.
The system established by the Biden administration divided countries exporting AI semiconductors into three groups: allied countries, other countries, and countries of concern. Its core provision was to strictly limit exports of advanced semiconductors to countries of concern, including China and Russia. The Trump administration, however, dismantled the system on the grounds that it “imposes excessive regulatory burdens on companies and stifles innovation.” With the repeal of the restrictions, NVIDIA, which relied on the Chinese market for about a quarter of its total revenue, avoided a direct hit, and its stock price rose sharply immediately after the announcement.
Trump’s purchases of NVIDIA shares did not stop there. In December last year, immediately after the U.S. Commerce Department announced its intention to approve exports to China of the H200, a semiconductor whose performance is six times that of chips already available in China, Trump was found to have bought NVIDIA shares at least three more times, with each purchase worth $250,000 to $500,000 (about 350 million to 700 million won).
The evidence of these stock purchases, coming amid the recent “spy scandal” surrounding NVIDIA, is further fueling suspicions of collusion between business and politics involving Trump.
Jensen Huang, the former CEO of NVIDIA Corporation, stepped down in disgrace on the 12th after his extramarital relationship with Alice Huang (Chinese name: Huang Le), a woman suspected of being a Chinese spy, was exposed. Huang is suspected of having smuggled advanced U.S. semiconductors into China or stolen trade secrets through Alice Huang. A close ally of Trump, Huang had actively supported the president’s second-term push to ease AI regulations and also donated a large sum to a project to build an event venue at the White House. In particular, suspicions are mounting that Trump may have deliberately turned a blind eye to the allegations that Alice Huang was a spy, despite being briefed about them twice by U.S. intelligence agencies, because of personal ties or financial interests.
In a report, DeKleptocracy strongly stated, “The United States must not only examine how someone suspected of being a Chinese spy manipulated White House policy on behalf of a particular AI company, but also seriously consider the possibility that President Trump’s personal corruption influenced the decision to hand over to China core technologies vital to the entire AI industry.” The U.S. opposition Democratic Party, poised to take control of Congress next year, has launched a formal investigation to probe allegations of collusion between Trump and former CEO Huang, as well as suspicions surrounding export approvals.


[email protected] Park Ji-hyun Reporter