VLSI KoreaTrump's August Disclosure: 517 Trades, AMD Sold for M-M, Nvidia a Net Buy
Trump's August 2026 OGE transaction report, released October 8: AMD sold for M-M, Micron net sold, Nvidia a modest net buy, and a M-5M Meta purchase. Every semiconductor trade, organized.
The bottom line: President Donald Trump's accounts cut semiconductor exposure in August 2026. The accounts sold $1 million to $5 million of AMD and were net sellers of Micron, while buying slightly more Nvidia than they sold. The single biggest move was into Meta Platforms, at $5 million to $25 million. The figures come from Trump's periodic transaction report (OGE Form 278-T), released by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics on October 8, 2026.
Key takeaways
- 517 transactions in August (289 purchases, 228 sales), with disclosed value bands totaling $74.3 million to $273.3 million
- Largest semiconductor sale: AMD, $1 million to $5 million on August 21
- Nvidia: purchases of up to about $1.6 million against sales of up to about $1 million, a modest net buy
- Micron: net sales of $251,000 to $515,000
- The accounts are run by third-party managers replicating market indexes; the President does not pick the trades, per the White House
Every semiconductor trade in the August filing
| Stock | Direction | Disclosed band | Date / note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nvidia (NVDA) | Two buys + sales | Buys up to ~$1.6M / sales up to ~$1M | Aug 3: $250,001-$500,000; Aug 17: $500,001-$1 million buys |
| AMD | Sold | $1 million-$5 million | Aug 21, single trade, effectively an exit |
| Micron (MU) | Net sold | Net sales of $251,000-$515,000 | Monthly aggregate |
| Dell (DELL) | Sold | $500,001-$1 million | Server/hardware adjacent |
| Microsoft (MSFT) | Bought | $1 million-$5 million | Aug 10 |
| Meta (META) | Bought | $5 million-$25 million | Aug 21, largest line in the filing |
Live data for each name is on VLSI Market: Nvidia, AMD, Micron.
A reversal from July
The previous report (July trades, released September 22) leaned the other way on chips: it bought $1 million to $5 million of Marvell Technology and $500,001 to $1 million of Nvidia. One month later the direction flipped, with AMD exited and Micron and Dell trimmed, while money moved into platform mega-caps Meta and Microsoft. Much of this looks like scheduled model-portfolio rebalancing, but the quarter-level direction change is still worth recording.
The disclosure lag problem
The most debated lines in this filing were not chips but oil. On August 21 the accounts bought $1 million to $5 million each of Chevron and ConocoPhillips; seven days later, on August 28, the President announced an oil agreement with Venezuela. The public could not see those purchases until October 8. The Meta trade shows the same gap: Meta closed at $549.90 on the August 21 purchase date and at $721.31 on October 7, up 31 percent before the trade became public. Under the STOCK Act, filers have up to 45 days to report, and agency review adds weeks. A disclosure is a historical record, not a real-time signal.
How to read this filing
- Every figure is a value band, not an exact amount. "$1 million-$5 million" can mean anything inside that range.
- The White House says all investment decisions are made by independent managers replicating recognized indexes such as the Schwab 1000. The filing alone does not tie any single trade to a policy decision.
- The structural conflict question remains: the accounts trade shares of companies whose fortunes the administration directly shapes, including chip export rules for Nvidia. The disclosure landed on October 8, the same day the President awarded Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang the National Medal of Science.
FAQ
Did Trump personally buy Nvidia stock?
No. According to the White House, third-party financial institutions independently manage the portfolio and replicate recognized indexes. The filing shows trades in accounts under his name, not trades he directed.
What was the biggest purchase in August?
Meta Platforms: $5 million to $25 million bought on August 21, the largest single line in the report.
Did the accounts buy or sell semiconductors overall?
They sold. The AMD sale of $1 million to $5 million and net Micron sales outweigh the modest net buying in Nvidia.
When is the next disclosure?
The September transaction report is expected around mid-November 2026, based on the 45-day reporting window plus OGE review time.
Sources: U.S. Office of Government Ethics, Form 278-T signed September 17, 2026 and released October 8, 2026; Reuters, October 8, 2026; Quiver Quantitative filing analysis. For industry background, see our complete guide to semiconductors.
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