President Donald Trump's Investment Team Sold Up to $25 Million in 2 Foundational AI Stocks in July
2026-10-02 08:06
•Sean Williams •The Motley Fool
••••• •• Axe Cap view
Caution Flags on AI Giants Amid Strong Growth
Trump’s investment team sold large chunks of Amazon and Microsoft despite their strong AI-driven growth.
Amazon and Microsoft continue to post impressive AI-driven cloud revenue growth, with AWS up 37% and Azure 43% year-on-year. Yet, President Trump’s investment team sold up to $25 million worth of shares in each during July. This signals a classic profit-taking move and possibly concerns that the AI sector is running ahead of itself. The US tech sector's frothy valuations often drive fluctuations in the rand as risk appetite shifts, putting USD/ZAR under pressure when global confidence wanes. South African investors with indirect exposure via offshore earnings—like Prosus and Naspers—should tread carefully. The strong fundamentals don’t guarantee smooth sails; a correction in AI valuations could weigh on these counters and, by extension, the rand. If you are overweight these names or related JSE counters, this quarter might call for trimming risk. This view could be wrong if AI growth accelerates beyond expectations, restoring investor euphoria. this is just our opinion and not financial advice
Trim positions in Prosus and Naspers to lock in gains while monitoring USD/ZAR; stay cautious on new exposure until valuations settle down.
- Prosus
- Naspers
- USD/ZAR
- AI sector valuation correction
- Faster-than-expected AI growth maintaining high multiples
6/10
President Trump's investment team completed 1,156 trades in July 2026, including sales of up to $25 million each in Amazon and Microsoft. Despite both companies' strong AI performance—AWS reported 37% YoY revenue growth and Azure grew 43%—the sales likely reflect profit-taking and concerns about overvalued AI stocks amid historically high market valuations.
Our take is based on reporting first published by The Motley Fool.