President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social, saying he had made “Hundreds of Billions of Dollars” in stocks and other holdings for the United States rather than himself, while accusing the “Radical Left Dumocrats” of unfairly criticizing him. The post was one of 37 messages Trump shared on the platform that day.
The post about stocks was accompanied by an AI-generated image of Trump apparently day-trading from the White House, with screens showing an Intel investment rising from $20 to $95. It read: “I do this for our Country, not myself. I’ve made Hundreds of Billions of Dollars on Stocks, and many other type Holdings, for the U.S.A., not myself, and all I do is get criticized by the Radical Left Dumocrats. Very unfair, but what can you do! President DONALD J. TRUMP.”
The other posts ranged from memes to elaborate AI-generated scenes. Trump was depicted leading giant robots with the slogans “GIVE THEM NIGHTMARES” and “THEY WILL DREAM OF US FOREVER,” while another image showed a fighter jet bearing down on an exploding Kharg Island with the words, “Bye bye, Kharg.”
Financial disclosures listed more than 21,000 securities trades in Trump’s first year back in office
The Intel graphic drew notice because Trump’s investment accounts bought the chipmaker’s shares several times earlier this year, even as his administration holds a 10% stake in the company for the U.S. government.
The White House has maintained that the accounts are independently managed and that Trump does not direct the transactions. Those accounts have completed thousands of stock trades since he returned to office.
Trump has also told Americans to buy Dell stock after company founder Michael Dell helped launch Trump Accounts. Dell’s shares are up more than 300% since the start of the year. His most recent financial disclosure showed he personally made at least $2.2 billion in 2025.
According to ABC News, a review of his annual financial report found that his investment advisers carried out more than 21,000 securities trades during his first year back in the White House. According to the report, the accounts grew to at least $858 million and held stakes in about 1,600 companies.
That volume, spread across eight accounts, differs from how earlier presidents handled their money. Those presidents either sold their holdings or limited trades to diversified mutual funds. Joe Biden made a total of 13 stock trades during his entire tenure as president. Trump’s 2017 disclosure from his first term listed 86 stock transactions.
The overall pattern of trading suggests the portfolio is professionally managed and follows common industry practice. Such potential conflicts have drawn scrutiny, as Trump recently revived his tariff agenda and threatened 60 trading partners, including the UK and Canada.
At the same time, Trump holds stakes in dozens of firms with government contracts, including Palantir, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, Intel, Nvidia, and private prison operators GEO Group and CoreCivic. Many of those companies also stand to gain from his policies, prompting criticism from Democrats about alleged conflicts of interest.
On July 23, 2025, the same day the White House released its “AI Action Plan,” Trump bought between $1-5 million each in Amazon, Apple, Broadcom, Meta, Microsoft, and Nvidia. This pattern of trading around government actions has occurred before, such as when Trump bought up to $500,000 in Boeing stock on June 18, and the Navy awarded Boeing an $880 million contract that same day.
Those firms’ AI work was directly affected by the plan, which sought to lessen regulations on the industry. The disclosure did not say whether the buys happened before or after the announcement, and he also bought stocks that day that had no link to AI.
The White House has defended the trades and said professional advisers run the accounts and do not regularly communicate with Trump. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Trump argued that “everyone” including himself is profiting from overall growth of the stock market. “You know why I’m profiting? Because the stock market’s going up, everybody’s profiting,” Trump said.
He has also traded shares in companies whose prices moved after his social media posts. In the months before he praised Palantir in public earlier this year, his advisers bought between $200,000 and $680,000 of the stock, according to a separate disclosure covering the first quarter of 2026. He also sold between $1-5 million of Palantir in that same period.
“Palantir Technologies (PLTR) has proven to have great war fighting capabilities and equipment. Just ask our enemies!!! President DJT,” Trump wrote on April 10 in a post that included the stock ticker of the company. Palantir had just come through one of its worst weeks in a year. The later endorsement preceded a sharp rise in the share price.
On April 9, 2025, Trump posted “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT” four hours before he announced a 90-day pause on tariffs. The day before that post, one of his investment accounts made 327 purchases across a wide range of securities.
Those trades appeared to gain from the rally that followed the post. The same account had made similar buys over the prior year and stepped up trading during volatile stretches, suggesting the activity may be part of a broader practice to rebalance his portfolio.
Published: Sep 7, 2026 10:45 am