US President Donald Trump reportedly promoted over 20 companies on his Truth Social account just days after buying their stocks, according to CNN. The White House has denied any wrongdoing, saying Trump’s investments are managed independently.
The report indicates that the buys from Trump’s portfolios unlock a potential conflict of interest, as he has pocketed billions in profit from his investments. CNN specifically cites a moment last year when Trump promoted AI giant Nvidia (NVDA), announcing that Nvidia would begin building AI supercomputers in the United States. Nvidia stock surged after the announcement, however it was not public at the time that Trump has bought hundreds of thousands worth of NVDA just days before the announcement.
While his portfolio was heavily focused on the tech industry, Trump’s portfolio also made major investments in entertainment companies Disney (DIS) and Netflix (NFLX). Furthermore, Trump also had significant exposure to the banking sector — JPMorgan (JPM) in particular — even as he was suing the bank for $5 billion over the issue of “debanking.”
Trump’s administration has said that all his share market trading is carried out by external financial managers, and that the President and his family members have no control over which trades are being made. Trump’s assets are “held in fully discretionary accounts managed by independent third-party financial institutions,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said. “President Trump only acts in the best interests of the American public – which is why they overwhelmingly re-elected him to this office, despite years of lies and false accusations against him and his businesses from the fake news media. There are no conflicts of interest,” spokesperson Kelly added.