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President Donald Trump made nearly 30,000 stock trades since his return to office, marking a far higher volume of trades than all 535 members of Congress combined, a new Bloomberg analysis finds.
Between his inauguration in January 2025 and the end of June, Trump and his team made nearly 28,700 trades, his financial disclosures show. That amounts to roughly 80 trades per market day for nearly a year and a half.
In that period, House lawmakers reported making 19,400 stock trades, while senators reported 2,900, for a total of 22,300 transactions. A few lawmakers were responsible for a large portion of the trades, like Rep. Ro Khanna (D-California), who reported 8,000 transactions in that time.
Trump’s trades have been a major boon for him, as the only modern president who’s ever disclosed trading individual stocks. Previous reports have found that Trump’s 2025 trades alone were worth as much as $1.8 billion, and his trades in the first three months of 2026 were worth as much as $750 million.
These trades have come as he’s driven policy for and outright publicized companies that he has bought stock in; a recent report by Democrats on Congress’s Joint Economic Committee found that Trump has made up to $15.5 million in profits on his oil and gas holdings as the companies’ stocks have risen due to his war on Iran.
Bloomberg also highlights a time when Trump bought as much as $1.4 million in DoorDash stock in the first quarter of 2026, then, in April, staged a stunt where he used DoorDash to deliver McDonald’s to the White House.
The White House has denied accusations of insider trading or improper conduct, saying that his stock portfolio is managed independently and uses a strategy based on computer models. “Neither President Trump nor any member of his family has any ability to direct, influence, or provide input regarding how the portfolio is invested or when investments are bought or sold,” spokesperson Davis Ingle said.
But Trump has also outright opposed any legislation that may prevent him from conducting stock trades — even while he’s backed proposals to bar members of Congress from doing the same.
Last year, Trump attacked Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) for supporting the inclusion of presidents in his bill to ban Congress from trading individual stocks, calling him a “second-tier Senator” and a “pawn” of Democrats.
Even still, during his State of the Union address this year, Trump called for a congressional stock ban to be passed so that members “cannot corruptly profit from using insider information.” Ignoring Trump’s trades, Republicans are using some members’ supposed support of a stock trading ban as a selling point for the party ahead of the midterm elections.
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Facts Only
* Donald Trump made nearly 28,700 stock trades between January 2025 and June 2026.
* House lawmakers reported 19,400 trades and senators reported 2,900 trades in the same period.
* Rep. Ro Khanna reported 8,000 transactions during this timeframe.
* Trump's 2025 trades were valued at up to $1.8 billion.
* Trump's trades in the first three months of 2026 were valued at up to $750 million.
* Profits of up to $15.5 million were made on oil and gas holdings.
* Trump purchased $1.4 million in DoorDash stock in the first quarter of 2026.
* In April 2026, McDonald's was delivered to the White House via DoorDash.
* Trump called for a congressional stock ban during his State of the Union address.
* Trump opposed the inclusion of presidents in Sen. Josh Hawley's bill to ban individual stock trading.
* White House spokesperson Davis Ingle stated the portfolio is managed independently via computer models.
Executive Summary
President Donald Trump has conducted a volume of stock trading significantly higher than the combined total of all members of Congress between January 2025 and June 2026. Financial disclosures indicate nearly 28,700 trades, with valuations reaching billions of dollars. This activity has occurred alongside policy decisions and public actions that align with specific holdings, such as oil and gas interests during tensions with Iran and the public use of DoorDash following a significant investment in the company.
The White House maintains that these investments are managed by independent computer models, asserting that neither the President nor his family influences specific trades. However, a tension exists between the administration's internal management claims and the President's public stance on legislation; while he has advocated for a ban on congressional stock trading to prevent corruption, he has actively opposed extending such bans to the presidency.
Full Take
The strongest version of this narrative highlights a systemic conflict of interest where the executive branch possesses both the power to move markets through policy and the personal financial incentive to do so. The juxtaposition of high-volume trading with specific policy outcomes—such as energy sector gains during geopolitical conflict—suggests a feedback loop between state power and private wealth.
This narrative is framed through a pattern of perceived hypocrisy, contrasting the call for congressional purity with the maintenance of presidential exemption. The load-bearing element is the suggestion that "independent computer models" serve as a firewall that cannot realistically exist when the beneficiary's public actions directly influence the assets being traded.
Patterns detected: none
The driving paradigm is the tension between democratic accountability and the financial autonomy of high-ranking officials. It echoes historical concerns regarding "spoils systems," updated for the era of high-frequency trading and algorithmic portfolios. The implication is a potential erosion of public trust; if the presidency is viewed as a vehicle for wealth extraction, the dignity of the office is subordinated to market speculation.
If this were a coordinated influence campaign, the playbook would involve "selective amplification"—focusing exclusively on the volume of trades to imply guilt without proving a specific quid pro quo, while utilizing the fundraising appeal to link the "threat" of the subject to the survival of the messenger. The content here follows a standard journalistic inquiry into financial disclosures, though it is embedded within a direct organizational solicitation.
Bridge Questions:
1. Does the use of an independent algorithmic manager legally or ethically decouple a leader from their financial gains?
2. How would the implementation of a mandatory blind trust for the presidency alter the current policy-making incentives?
3. What evidence would be required to distinguish between "market timing" and "insider trading" in the context of executive orders?
Counterstrike Scan: Clean.
Sentinel — Human
The text blends verifiable financial statistics with strong partisan commentary and an explicit call to action, suggesting it is a composite piece written by an entity aiming for both information delivery and political advocacy.
