- Donald Trump disclosed over 3,600 stock trades in the first quarter of the year
- The trades represent roughly $100 million in transactions across various sectors
- Trump's portfolio includes Nvidia, Apple, Tesla, Boeing, and major defense firms
Donald Trump has disclosed more than 3,600 stock trades in the first three months of the year, an extraordinary level of activity for a sitting US president and one that is already drawing sharp criticism from ethics experts. The more than 100-page filing submitted to the federal Office of Government Ethics shows over 3,600 buy and sell orders, representing potentially more than $100 million in transactions. That works out to roughly 50 trades for every day US markets were open during the quarter.
Modern US presidents have typically sold individual stocks, invested in diversified mutual funds, or placed their assets in blind trusts to avoid even the appearance of conflicts of interest.
What's In The Portfolio?
Among the most closely watched holdings was up to $6 million in Nvidia, whose advanced chips Trump had approved for sale to China last year.
The portfolio also included stakes in Apple, Tesla and Boeing. In addition, Trump bought shares in major defence contractors such as Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman, all of which stand to benefit from increased military spending linked to the Iran conflict.
The disclosure also showed positions in Intel, in which the US government took a 10% stake last year, as well as consumer names such as Shake Shack, Papa John's and The Cheesecake Factory.
The report indicates that buying activity outweighed selling, but the exact proportion cannot be calculated since individual transactions are disclosed only in ranges rather than precise figures.
Ethics Experts Sound The Alarm
Richard Painter, who served as chief White House ethics lawyer under George W. Bush, said the trades represent a serious breach of public trust. “If he were defence secretary, he would be committing a crime,” Painter said. “Technically he can do this, but it is a fundamental breach of trust.”
Federal conflict-of-interest laws generally prohibit executive branch employees from owning assets affected by their official decisions, but the president is exempt from those restrictions.
Trump's spokesperson Kimberly Benza said neither the president, his family, nor the The Trump Organization has any role in selecting specific investments and receives no advance notice of trading activity. Still, the disclosure marks a dramatic departure from past norms. Presidents from George H. W. Bush to Joe Biden took steps to distance themselves from individual stock ownership.
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