Fox News host Jesse Watters sparked outrage online after defending Donald Trump’s 3,600 stock trades during an episode of The Five. Watters addressed the president’s investment portfolio, which has drawn widespread criticism due to the sheer number of trades involved. This is not the first time Watters has faced accusations of hypocrisy.
According to The Wrap, Watters’ comments stood in sharp contrast to his earlier criticism of Nancy Pelosi, whom he accused of making questionable stock trades, calling her actions “true cult-like behavior” and “a ‘rules for thee not for me’ attitude.” But when it came to Trump’s own trading activity, Watters took a very different stance, dismissing any criticism of the president as “suspicious.”
In the first quarter of this year, Trump made more than 3,600 buy and sell orders, many involving companies whose profits are directly tied to his decisions as president. These include stocks in Nvidia, a company whose advanced chips Trump approved for sale to China last year, as well as shares in several U.S. military suppliers affected by the Iran war.
Trump’s stock trading raises serious conflict-of-interest concerns that experts say cannot be ignored
Trump’s portfolio also includes stocks in Apple, Boeing, and Tesla. While the president has historically had very little invested in the stock market relative to his net worth, that appears to be changing alongside his growing wealth, which has included large cash inflows from overseas developers and cryptocurrency sales.
Ethics experts have warned that simply knowing what is in Trump’s portfolio is a problem, as it could influence his decisions on everything from health policy to government contracting to war. Richard Painter, who served as the chief White House ethics adviser under President George W. Bush, stated that if Trump were defense secretary, he would be committing a crime due to the potential conflict of interest.
Trump has also faced scrutiny over other legal matters, including how he dropped a $10 billion IRS lawsuit just as a federal judge demanded answers. The stock trading report filed with the federal Office of Government Ethics runs more than 100 pages and shows possibly more than $100 million changing hands over three months, at an average of 50 trades every day markets were open.
This level of trading activity is unprecedented for a sitting president and has raised serious concerns among ethics officials. All recent U.S. presidents have handled their finances very differently. George H.W. Bush set up a blind trust, Barack Obama held broadly diversified mutual funds, and Joe Biden did not trade stocks at all.
In contrast, Trump’s portfolio includes shares in companies with direct ties to his own policies. Trump’s political influence has also been felt beyond financial matters, as seen when Kentucky handed Trump a major primary victory while Thomas Massie paid the price for opposing him.
The Trump Organization has said the president’s portfolio is managed by third parties who have “sole and exclusive” authority over investment decisions. However, critics argue that this explanation does not resolve the conflict-of-interest concerns.
Published: May 20, 2026 01:45 pm