Trump Made 3,700 Stock Trades Worth Up to $750 Million — Then His Government Handed Those Companies Contracts and Favors

Financial disclosures reveal Trump made over 3,700 stock trades in Q1 2026 totaling $220M-$750M. The pattern: buy stock, then promote the company or award it a government contract. He bought up to $5M in Dell, told Americans to "buy a Dell computer," then the Pentagon gave Dell a $9.7B contract. He bought TKO (UFC's parent) stock, then staged a UFC fight on the White House lawn. He bought AMD stock on January 6 — a week before Commerce authorized AMD to sell chips to China. He bought Oracle stock as his administration helped Oracle secure TikTok. Jim Cramer was speechless. His investments are not in a blind trust. JD Vance's defense: "The president doesn't sit at the Oval Office on his Robinhood account." The fine for missing his disclosure deadline: $200.

In May 2026, the U.S. Office of Government Ethics published Trump's financial disclosures for January through March 2026. The documents run over 100 pages and reveal more than 3,700 individual stock transactions — over 40 trades per market day — with a cumulative value between $220 million and $750 million.

The trades are not the scandal. The pattern is.

Dell: buy, promote, contract

February 10: Trump purchased between $1 million and $5 million in Dell Technologies stock
Late February: Trump publicly praised Dell, telling Americans to "go out and buy a Dell computer" and calling it "a great product"
May 8: Trump publicly thanked the Dell family: "He is amazing; she is amazing"
May 27: The Pentagon awarded Dell a $9.7 billion, five-year contract to provide software to the military

The Dell family donated $6.25 billion in funding for "Trump accounts" — the tax-advantaged savings vehicles created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Trump bought their stock, promoted their company from the presidential podium, and then the Pentagon handed them a $9.7 billion contract. Dell stock is up roughly 80% since Trump's first endorsement.

UFC: buy, stage, profit

March 25: Trump purchased between $15,001 and $50,000 in TKO Group Holdings — the parent company of the UFC and WWE
Trump then staged a UFC fight on the White House South Lawn for June 14 — his 80th birthday — branded as "UFC Freedom 250," with a 4,300-seat arena and an octagon constructed on the grounds of the executive mansion
TKO stock climbed roughly 8.86% in the week following disclosure, with a one-year return of about 32%

The president of the United States bought stock in a fight promotion company, then used the White House as a venue for their event. UFC is funding the $60 million staging costs. Trump profits from the publicity he's providing with the most famous address in the world.

AMD: buy, authorize

January 6: Trump purchased between $50,000 and $100,000 in AMD stock
January 13: The Department of Commerce authorized AMD to sell chips to Chinese customers

One week. Buy the stock, then authorize the company to access the world's largest market.

Oracle: buy, deal

Trump purchased millions of dollars in Oracle stock around the same time his administration was helping Oracle secure a deal to continue operating TikTok in the United States — one of the most valuable tech deals of the decade.

The China trip portfolio

The Financial Times noted that Boeing, Qualcomm, and GE Aerospace — all in Trump's trading portfolio — were companies whose executives accompanied Trump on his trip to China. The president traveled with the CEOs of companies he holds stock in, to negotiate deals that would benefit those companies.

Jim Cramer was speechless

CNBC's Jim Cramer — a man who talks about stocks for a living — was rendered speechless when presented with the scale of Trump's trading activity and the pattern of buy-then-benefit. The headline: "Trump made $220M in stock trades in companies he later promoted. Jim Cramer was speechless."

Not a blind trust

Trump's investments are not held in a blind trust. They are managed by a trust run by his children — Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. The White House claims the trades are made by "independent third-party financial institutions" in "fully discretionary accounts."

Vice President JD Vance dismissed concerns: "The president doesn't sit at the Oval Office on his computer on his Robinhood account buying and selling stocks. That's absurd."

That is not the question. The question is whether the president's family — which manages his trust, which is not blind, and which has full visibility into his portfolio — is directing trades based on knowledge of upcoming presidential actions, government contracts, and policy decisions. A blind trust exists specifically to prevent this. Trump refused to create one. Twice.

The numbers

3,711 trades in three months
$220 million to $750 million in total value
40+ trades per market day
More than 2,000 trades in March alone — as the Iran war caused market volatility to surge
Large purchases ($1M-$5M each) in Nvidia, Apple, S&P 500 index funds, Dell, Oracle, and others
Large sales ($5M-$25M each) in Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta
Trump missed his disclosure deadline. The fine: $200

What this is

CREW's Jordan Libowitz: "Grifting has always been an issue in Donald Trump's presidency, but now the mask is off. Using the White House to promote a company whose stock you bought while promoting it is one of the worst conflicts of interest you could imagine."

CREW's Cynthia Brown: "The president has put the weight of his office behind a private company, singling them out as a good investment."

The president buys stock in a company. Then he praises the company from the White House. Then his government awards the company a contract worth billions. Then the stock goes up. Then he does it again with another company. 3,711 times in three months. The fine for late disclosure is $200. There is no fine for what the disclosure reveals — because no one imagined a president would do this, so no one wrote a law against it.