Grand Theft America / Receipt money-2025-08-18-048
Trump accounts bought Intel stock days before he handed the company a $8.9B stake
Trump's investment accounts bought between $250,000 and $500,000 of Intel stock on August 18, 2025 — four days before the president announced the federal government would convert $8.9 billion in the company's unpaid CHIPS Act grants into a roughly 10% equity stake.
What happened
The government's stake, announced August 22, 2025, gave Washington 433.3 million passive, non-voting Intel shares at $20.47 each; combined with prior CHIPS grants, total federal investment in Intel reached $11.1 billion. Intel's share price rose about 6% after the announcement. The stock purchases were disclosed on Trump's periodic transaction reports.
Why it matters
Buying stock in a company four days before personally announcing a federal policy decision that predictably boosted its share price raises a clear appearance of trading on advance knowledge of one's own forthcoming government action. The $8.9B figure is the size of the government deal, not personal profit — the trade itself was small, which is exactly what makes the timing the story rather than the dollar amount.
Receipt details
- Time the markets
- Paper value
- $0.5M
