Kara Swisher Flags Donald Trump's AI Trades as Filings Show Nvidia, AMD Buys

Pivot host Kara Swisher on Tuesday cited a Washington Post analysis of President Donald Trump's financial disclosures to argue the president is personally invested in the artificial intelligence boom he has vowed not to slow. Ethics filings flagged by two Democratic lawmakers show that two of the disclosed purchases, in Nvidia and AMD, landed a week before Trump's own Commerce Department eased rules on selling both companies' AI chips to China. Swisher did not mention those specific trades on air.

"Grift watch alert as Trump pushes back on the calls for AI slow down. He and his family are profiting from the AI boom. What a surprise, according to the Washington Post," Swisher said on the episode, which she co-hosts with New York University marketing professor Scott Galloway.

Reading from the Post's Sunday analysis by Cat Zakrzewski and Shira Ovide, she said: "Trump's investment accounts have disclosed nearly 30,000 security transactions since his return to White House transactions, including buying and selling shares in companies that provide the chip servers and energy powering AI."

The segment came as Trump said this week that he is forming an "AI Force" modeled on the Space Force and would soon name a new AI czar, a position previously held by venture capitalist David Sacks. He offered no detail on how the effort would be funded, staffed or structured.

What Trump's Ethics Filings Show

The nearly 30,000 figure covers all securities activity in Trump's brokerage accounts since he returned to office, not just AI holdings. His first-year filings alone listed more than 21,000 trades, with the accounts growing to at least $858 million, ABC News reported in July.

The Nvidia and AMD purchases appear in a periodic transaction report filed with the Office of Government Ethics and certified in May. That report alone contains 3,555 individual stock trades made "in just the first three months of 2026," according to the Warren-Garcia letter that analyzed it.

Two entries stand out. On January 6, the accounts bought up to $1 million of Nvidia stock and up to $100,000 of AMD stock, according to rows 3,642 and 40 of that report, as cited in an August 12 letter to Trump from Senator Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat, and Representative Robert Garcia, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee. The letter does not specify a lower bound for either purchase.

A week later, on January 13, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security announced it would review export license applications for "the Nvidia H200, AMD MI325X, and similar chips on a case-by-case basis provided certain security requirements are met." The rule took effect on January 15, nine days after the disclosed purchases.

Warren and Garcia Demand Answers

The August letter asked Trump directly: "Did you direct the January 6, 2026 AMD and Nvidia purchases?" It also asked whether he had "any involvement in, discussion of, or knowledge about the January 13, 2026 Commerce Department announcement." The lawmakers noted that the STOCK Act of 2012 requires presidents to disclose such trades but does not prohibit them.

White House Says Managers Act Alone

The administration has consistently denied any presidential role. "Neither President Trump nor any member of his family has any ability to direct, influence, or provide input regarding how the portfolio is invested or when investments are bought or sold," White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said in a statement to The Washington Sun published Tuesday. "All investment decisions are made entirely by independent managers. There are no conflicts of interest."

PolitiKool is not aware of any reporting establishing that the president or his family directed the January 6 trades; the timing alone does not show anyone acted on advance knowledge.

Swisher and Galloway on the 'AI Force'

Swisher was dismissive of the new agency. "I think he just made it up in the middle of the night," she said, arguing the plan amounts to putting "some guy in charge" who is "Loyal to me and it's like so self-interested like David Sacks has been. And then he himself is buying and selling stocks in this area."

Galloway said the moment called for a real regulator rather than a czar. "There's just never been a need or a bigger white space for a regulatory body to come in and have subpoena power, testing and approval requirements, hold periods, the equivalent of the NTSB," he said.

Swisher agreed: "They shouldn't have the stupid AI force. There should be significant regulation."

What Happens Next

Trump's trading disclosures will keep arriving in 45-day cycles under the STOCK Act, and Democrats have signaled they intend to use them. The dispute lands as PolitiKool's polling average puts Trump's approval at 38.8 percent against 58.2 percent disapproval.

Whether the AI Force takes shape as a military branch, a civilian agency or something else remains unclear. Trump offered no details on its budget or placement, and the White House has not said when the czar will be named.