WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump significantly increased his investments in Apple in the months before his trip to China, according to filings with the US Office of Government Ethics, reported German news agency dpa.
Trump invested up to US$7.2 million in the iPhone maker during the first three months of the year, the filings showed. The disclosures provide only broad value ranges and do not specify whether the investments were made in shares or other financial instruments.
The largest Apple purchase, valued between US$1 million and US$5 million, was dated to early February.
Trump was accompanied on his state visit to Beijing by a large business delegation including Apple chief executive Tim Cook, tech billionaire Elon Musk, Nvidia boss Jensen Huang and Boeing chief Kelly Ortberg.
The filings also showed extensive trading in Tesla, Boeing and Nvidia securities, although it was unclear whether purchases or sales dominated.
Boeing secured an order from China for 300 aircraft worth more than US$37 billion, though investors had expected a larger deal and the company’s shares fell.
Nvidia is seeking to regain access to the Chinese market after US export restrictions and Chinese support for domestic firms such as Huawei hurt sales. Huang has estimated Nvidia could lose around US$50 billion in China revenue this year.
Trump’s filings listed more than 2,300 purchases during the quarter, though some transactions were carried out through managed accounts. The largest transactions were sales of technology stocks. Trump sold holdings in both Microsoft and Amazon as well as Meta worth up to US$25 million, all on February 10.
–BERNAMA-dpa
