President Donald Trump’s accounts made 517 securities trades in August, totaling up to $273 million. One purchase landed two days before he signed a policy covering that company’s industry.
No law stopped him, with the disclosure listing each trade only as a value range, so the exact sums stay hidden.
What Were Trump’s 5 Most Notable August Buys?
Meta Platforms was the largest trade, a purchase of $5 million to $25 million on August 21, according to CNBC.
A SpaceX trade had come three days earlier. On August 18, the accounts bought $1 million to $5 million of SpaceX notes, corporate IOUs paying 5.35% a year until July 2031.
Two days later, Trump signed a memorandum targeting more than 1,000 US launches and reentries a year by 2030. It does not name SpaceX, which already flies missions for NASA.
On August 21, the accounts also bought $1 million to $5 million each of Netflix, Chevron, and AT&T.
However, the month was not all buying. Purchases totaled at least $44.2 million, while sales reached at least $30.1 million, including up to $5 million of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).
How Can a Sitting President Trade Stocks Actively?
No law makes a president sell his stocks. The main federal conflict-of-interest statute, which forces officials to step away from decisions touching their investments, excludes the president.
Instead, the law requires disclosure. Presidents must report each trade to the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) within 45 days, under federal ethics law.
Insider trading remains illegal. The 2012 STOCK Act, which bars officials from trading on nonpublic government information, names the president.
A blind trust, where an independent manager runs the assets without the owner’s knowledge, is optional. Most presidents since Lyndon Johnson used one, according to NPR.
Trump’s accounts are discretionary instead, meaning outside managers trade without his approval. A Trump Organization spokesperson described the setup in May.
“They receive no advance notice of trading activity and provide no input regarding investment decisions,” Axios reported.
Trading was heavier in earlier months. June and July each topped 1,000 trades, and one July filing showed the accounts bought MicroStrategy stock before an 83% rally.
Meanwhile, Trump has backed a congressional trading ban that exempts the president himself.
