WASHINGTON, Oct 8 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump bought as much as $1.6 million and sold as much as $1 million in Nvidia shares in August, according to his latest asset declaration, released on Thursday, as he prepared to award Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang the nation’s highest honor for scientific achievements.
The new disclosure of the president’s investment in one of the world’s most valuable companies comes at a moment when his administration is reviewing policies that could influence Nvidia’s future, including rules governing the export of its advanced chips.
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said in a statement to Reuters that third-party financial institutions independently manage the president’s portfolio and replicate “recognized indices, such as the Schwab 1000.”
Huang is set to receive the National Medal of Science from Trump on Thursday. The award honors Americans who have made “notable contributions to knowledge in the physical, biological, mathematical, engineering or social and behavioral sciences, in service to the nation,” according to the National Science Foundation’s website.
Previous winners have been honored for advances ranging from cancer detection to protecting the food supply during droughts.
The Nvidia stock trades were among hundreds carried out by the president in August, according to the statement signed by him on September 17 and released on Thursday.
“All investment decisions are made entirely by independent managers,” Ingle said. “There are no conflicts of interest.”
Trump is also scheduled to confer the same award on SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk and Google cofounder Sergey Brin on Thursday.
The Nvidia spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
