Money Grab/Profit from his own market-moving decisions
Trump’s accounts buy Intel stock 4 days before he announces an $8.9B federal stake
On August 18, 2025, Trump’s investment accounts bought between $250,000 and $500,000 of Intel shares. On August 22, Trump announced the federal government would convert $8.9 billion in unpaid CHIPS Act grants into a roughly 10% stake in the company. Intel’s stock rose about 6%.
What happened
On August 18, 2025, investment accounts belonging to Trump bought between $250,000 and $500,000 of Intel stock. The purchase appears on his periodic transaction report, filed later. The same day, the accounts bought between $5 million and $25 million each of Apple, Nvidia and Microsoft.
On August 22, four days later, Trump announced that the federal government would take a stake in Intel. The government agreed to buy 433.3 million new shares at $20.47 each, about 9.9% of the company, for $8.9 billion. The money came from $5.7 billion in CHIPS Act grants that Intel had been awarded but not yet received and $3.2 billion from a Defense Department program called Secure Enclave. The shares carry no vote and no board seat. Intel’s stock rose about 6% after the announcement.
The White House has said Trump’s trades are directed by outside investment advisers without his involvement. The trade itself was small. The $8.9 billion is the government’s money, not the president’s gain.
Who benefited
Trump’s accounts held Intel shares when his own announcement lifted the price about 6%. The gain on a trade of this size would be in the tens of thousands of dollars, and the record does not state it. Intel received $8.9 billion in federal equity in place of grants and awards it had not yet collected.
Who wanted something
Intel had billions in CHIPS Act grants awarded but unpaid, and its stock had fallen sharply. The government converted that money into an ownership stake, which Intel’s board accepted. The record does not say Intel knew of the president’s trades.
Who lost out
Anyone who sold Intel between August 18 and 22 did so without knowing what the president was about to announce. You lost out too: $8.9 billion of public money became stock in one company, held by a government with no vote on how it is run.
Why it matters
A president’s accounts bought a stock, and four days later the president announced a federal decision that moved it. The trade was a few hundred thousand dollars, the kind that would draw an insider-trading inquiry for anyone else. The White House says advisers made it. The record documents the timing.