President Donald Trump has broken tradition by actively trading stocks, with his portfolio seeing over 3,700 buy and sell orders in the first quarter of this year. According to latest federal ethics disclosures, the stock trading report filed with the federal Office of Government Ethics shows tens of millions of dollars changing hands over three months. The trading activity occurred at a rapid pace of an average of 50 trades every day markets were open, with the portfolio showing more purchases than sales, though the precise ratio is impossible to determine due to the range-based reporting format.
Many of Trump's trades involved companies whose profits have been directly impacted by his presidential decisions. As reported by The Economic Times, among the notable transactions was up to USD 6 million in Nvidia, whose advanced chips Trump approved for sale to China last year. The portfolio also acquired stocks of several US military suppliers impacted by the Iran war, including Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman. The report shows the president's portfolio includes shares in Apple, Boeing and Tesla, with the CEOs of all four companies accompanying Trump on his recent visit to China.
Vice President JD Vance has defended Donald Trump from criticism over his voluminous trading of financial assets, stating that the president does not personally execute stock trades. "The president doesn't sit at the Oval Office on his computer on his, like, Robinhood account, buying and selling stocks, that's absurd. He has independent wealth advisers who manage his money," Vance said during a White House press briefing. He emphasized that "He's not making these stock trades himself" and that the president's holdings are managed by third-party financial institutions with control over all investment decisions.
Ethics officials have raised concerns about the knowledge of what's in Trump's portfolio potentially impacting presidential decisions on everything from health policy to government contracting to war. According to The Economic Times, Richard Painter, the chief White House ethics adviser in the George W Bush administration, stated that "If he were defence secretary, he would be committing a crime." US law bans federal employees from holding financial assets that could be impacted by their policy work, but there is a carveout for the president. A Trump family business spokesperson said the president's portfolio is handled by third parties with "sole and exclusive" authority to make investment decisions, with trades executed through an automated process.
All recent US presidents have traditionally avoided trading stocks before assuming office, with previous presidents either dumping their stocks, putting money in broadly diversified funds, or setting up blind trusts. As reported by The Economic Times, George HW Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama all followed this practice, while Joe Biden didn't trade at all. The current trading activity represents a significant departure from this established precedent, with Trump's portfolio also including shares in Intel, the chipmaker in which the government took a 10% stake last year, and fast-food companies like Shake Shack, Papa John's and Cheesecake Factory. Wall Street insiders have expressed amazement at the trading volume, with Eric Diton from The Wealth Alliance noting that "In the 40-plus years of my time on Wall Street, this is an unusual amount of trading by any standards."
