Trump's 'Storm of 3,600 Stock Trades,' Was His Accumulation Before Nvidia Chip Export Approval a Coincidence?

▲ Trump/Source: Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social Twitter ©

As former U.S. President Donald Trump garnered market attention by disclosing thousands of stock transactions in a single report, suspicions of insider trading are spreading, particularly regarding his concentrated accumulation of artificial intelligence (AI)-related stocks, which coincided with the timing of technology diplomacy with China.

According to crypto media outlet Finbold on May 14 (local time), President Trump disclosed extensive stock transaction details, totaling approximately 3,600 cases, in a regular disclosure submitted to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) on May 8. The most notable aspect of this disclosure was a large-scale sell-off ranging from $5 million to a maximum of $25 million. It was confirmed that President Trump restructured his portfolio by disposing of a large number of existing core holdings, including Microsoft, Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, Amazon, and Meta Platforms.

His aggressive buying spree, executed simultaneously with the sell-off, was also unconventional. President Trump added key AI and cloud infrastructure stocks such as Nvidia, Oracle, Broadcom, and Apple to his portfolio, with transactions ranging from $1 million to $5 million. Conversely, the proportion of consumer-focused stocks and social media tech stocks significantly decreased. Notably, he demonstrated highly active asset management, including buying and selling Microsoft and Amazon, but a distinctive feature was that most large transactions were classified as unsolicited trades based on the broker's independent judgment.

The problem is that the timing of these transactions curiously overlaps with government policy announcements. Executives from the companies that were the target of President Trump's recent concentrated purchases accompanied the President on his recent visit to China. In particular, the U.S. government on the morning of the 14th abruptly approved 10 major Chinese technology companies, including Alibaba, ByteDance, Tencent, and JD.com, to purchase Nvidia's next-generation AI chip, the H200. Immediately after this announcement, Nvidia's stock price surged, intensifying criticism that the President's prior accumulation of shares might constitute insider trading using policy information.

Controversies surrounding market manipulation involving the White House are not new. There have been several allegations that the current administration has exploited undisclosed information to gain undue profits in the stock market. The fact that this technology export approval was announced immediately after the President acquired a large number of Nvidia shares is lending weight to calls for strict investigations from both political and financial circles.

In conclusion, President Trump's major portfolio shift is interpreted as a strategic move closely linked to policy decisions, going beyond simple asset management. Global investors are closely watching what impact the President's bet, shifting capital from traditional big tech to new growth engines like AI and semiconductors, will have on the future U.S.-China technology hegemony war and the domestic political landscape.

*Disclaimer: This article is for investment reference only, and we are not responsible for any investment losses based on it. The content should be interpreted for informational purposes only.*