Under US law, the US president can invest in financial markets but must disclose his transactions. The total value of the operation ranges from USD 220 million to even USD 750 million. (federal regulations only require ranges, not exact amounts).
The documents do not indicate any breaches or use of confidential information. It is also unclear to what extent Trump himself was directly involved in investment decisions. His businesses are formally managed by his sons – Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump — although some of the deals may have been handled by financial advisors.
The very fact of such a large number of transactions and their scale sparked a discussion in Washington about potential conflicts of interest and reignited the debate on limiting share trading by public office holders.
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Big tech and artificial intelligence are in the foreground
The president of the United States' wallet is stacked for the biggest technology companies and the AI sector. It includes, among others: Nvidia, Microsoft, Broadcom, Amazon and Apple – individual transactions amounted to USD 1-5 million. Lower, but still significant positions included companies such as AMD, Intel, Alphabet, Goldman Sachs, Airbnb, DoorDash and Micron.
According to the report, assuming that the portfolio composition has not changed significantly since the end of March, the US president made at least 20 percent gains. In the case of companies such as AMD, Intel, Iridium Communications, Bloom Energy, Intuitive Machines, Marvell Technology and SanDisk, even exceeded 100 percent.
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An analysis of the transaction dates indicates that Trump bought shares en masse during the March declines caused by the conflict involving Iran. Then the S&P 500 index fell by over 8% and later rebounded by 19%. and set historic highs.
The US Congress is working to ban stock trading by officials
The US Congress is currently working on several bills that are intended to limit the ability of government officials to trade shares.
The most famous initiative is the cross-party project “Restore Trust in Congress Act“, introduced by Republican Chip Roy and Democrat Seth Magaziner. The bill prohibits the holding and trading of individual stocks by members of Congress, their spouses and their dependent children. The corresponding Senate bill was introduced by Senators Ashley Moody (Republican Party) and Kirsten Gillibrand (Democratic Party).
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The project has already received the support of over 120 signatories in the House of Representatives, and a special petition prepared by Anna Paulina Luna is intended to force the bill to be processed even without the consent of party leaders. There is still debate as to whether the ban should apply only to Congress or also to the president and vice president.
The bill is also being processed in the Senate ETHICS Act, which prohibits trading in stocks by members of Congress, the president and vice president. But compromises and exceptions make it difficult to pass.
Despite broad public support for tightening regulations, the topic remains politically sensitive. There are ongoing disputes about the scope of the ban – whether it should cover spouses and family, and whether officials should be obliged to completely sell assets, or whether a suspension of new purchases will be enough. Several bills have already gained committee support or been brought before the House, but no comprehensive ban has been adopted yet.
