Trump’s stock trades fuel accusations of corruption and profiteering in the presidency

Geoff Bennett:

Earlier this month, President Donald Trump revealed that his trust was actively trading individual stocks, an unprecedented practice for a sitting U.S. president in the modern era. This arrangement raises new questions about whether the president’s actions, policies or public statements could directly benefit his personal financial assets.

Our White House correspondent, Liz Landers, takes a closer look.

Liz Landers:

It would be difficult to find a president in recent history who has spoken as publicly about the stock market as Donald Trump.

President Donald Trump:

I just turned on the TV and wanted to see how the stock market was doing today. We reached 50,000 on the Dow Jones. We hit 7,000 on the S&P. Our stock market is today at its highest level in history.

Liz Landers:

And maybe that’s not so surprising. Donald Trump has built a multibillion-dollar personal brand, and he is one of the only people to go directly from the boardroom to the White House without holding any other elected office.

Donald Trump:

Look at the numbers. Look at the stock market.

Liz Landers:

It’s one thing to monitor the market, but it’s another to actively trade stocks while in office. Mr. Trump’s most recent federal financial disclosure form, filed earlier this month, reveals more than 3,700 transactions in the first three months of this year, a wave amounting to tens of millions of dollars in transactions.

The disclosure filing, called Form 278, is required of senior government officials by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics within 45 days of any financial transaction. It does not list specific amounts, only broad ranges of values, and it is designed to ensure a certain level of transparency.

And Alexander:

The fact that he not only owns stocks, but actively trades them, simply has no precedent in recent history.

Liz Landers:

Dan Alexander is the editor-in-chief of Forbes magazine and author of “White House, Inc.: How Donald Trump Turned the Presidency into a Business.”

And Alexander:

The key question here is: do these holdings have an impact on the decisions he makes? And what’s tricky about all this, as with so many other things, is that, to answer this question, you really have to get into the head of Donald Trump.

Liz Landers:

In a statement to “PBS News Hour,” the Trump Organization said – quote – “President Trump’s investments are held exclusively in fully discretionary accounts managed by independent third-party financial institutions.

“These institutions have sole and exclusive authority over all investment decisions, including asset allocation, trading, rebalancing and portfolio management. Investments are executed and allocated through model-based automated portfolios and direct indexing strategies entirely administered by these companies.”

On the morning of March 23, after nearly a month of war with Iran, the president announced on TRUTH Social that the United States and Iran had had — quote — “very good and productive conversations” and that he was extending the deadline for an agreement by five more days.

Oil prices plunged nearly 11 percent on hopes that the war would end, energy stocks sold off and the brokerage account in Trump’s name spent the day buying them, Phillips 66, ExxonMobil, Chevron, as well as defense and aerospace names like Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics, all companies that could profit from the duration of the war.

Is it illegal for a president to hold positions on the stock market, to own individual stocks?

Richard Painter:

Unfortunately, the financial conflict of interest law does not apply to the president, vice president, and members of Congress.

Liz Landers:

Richard Painter was the chief White House ethics lawyer to President George W. Bush. He says the president’s power to influence the market is profound and should be more strictly limited.

Richard Painter:

If through his official actions he can actually change the price of the stock and he owns it, that is a financial conflict of interest that should be prohibited.

Donald Trump:

Let’s also ensure that members of Congress cannot properly profit from the use of privileged information.

(Applause)

Liz Landers:

In this year’s State of the Union, President Trump lent his support to efforts to ban members of Congress from stock trading. But what he didn’t say is that no such ban exists for presidents, and he hasn’t asked for one.

Richard Painter:

A Secretary of the Treasury who owns bank stock, a Secretary of Defense who owns stock in defense contractors would be committing a crime if they participated in decisions affecting those investments. And that’s why every official in the U.S. government is required to divest.

Liz Landers:

Since Ronald Reagan, every president has either placed their assets in a blind trust managed by independent trustees or sold their shares to eliminate conflicts of interest.

Even if President Trump moved his assets into a trust, it’s not indiscriminate, says Dan Alexander.

And Alexander:

The trust does not transfer ownership of these assets to anyone else. This allows their children to make decisions that affect them on a daily basis. These assets still belong to Donald Trump, so any potential conflicts with them and all the money that comes with them still go to Donald Trump.

Question:

Do you have any regrets about your presidency?

Liz Landers:

Alexander claims Trump’s wealth has grown exponentially since he left office in 2021.

And Alexander:

When he left office, we estimate he was worth $2.4 billion. We now estimate its value at $6.1 billion. This largely comes from an increase in liquid assets, mainly thanks to its crypto projects which have made a lot of money.

Liz Landers:

In 2025, Mr. Trump’s accounts traded almost exclusively in municipal and corporate bonds, which did not raise conflict of interest concerns. But that changed in January of this year, when Mr. Trump’s accounts began actively trading individual stocks and some companies have direct and ongoing involvement with the federal government.

Take Palantir Technologies. It has multibillion-dollar contracts with the Trump administration, including a $1.3 billion deal with the Pentagon to develop AI systems to help orchestrate military operations.

Since January, Mr. Trump’s account has made nine purchases of Palantir stock worth up to $680,000. When the stock fell nearly 15 percent in early April, Trump posted on TRUTH Social – quote – “Palantir Technologies has proven itself to possess great capabilities and war equipment. Just ask our enemies. »

In 10 days, the stock had more than regained its value.

Man:

Nvidia’s next generation of AI chips is in full production.

Liz Landers:

In early January, the president’s account purchased between $500,000 and $1 million worth of Nvidia stock. A week earlier, Commerce officials approved the sale of some Nvidia chips to China.

In February, he bought $1 million to $5 million more just days before Nvidia announced a major computer processing power deal with Meta.

Vice President JD Vance defended the transactions in the president’s portfolio.

Vice President JD Vance:

First, the president doesn’t sit in the Oval Office on his computer, in his Robinhood account, buying and selling stocks. It’s absurd. He has a host of independent advisors who manage his money. He is a rich person. He was successful in business. He does not carry out these stock transactions himself.

Liz Landers:

The Trump Organization says – quote – “Neither President Trump, his family, nor the Trump Organization have any role in selecting, directing, approving, influencing, or soliciting specific investments. They receive no advance notice of transactions, cannot modify or override the managers’ strategies or models, and provide no input regarding investment decisions or portfolio operations. »

The structure, according to the Trump Organization, is intended to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest. But Richard Painter believes it is difficult to separate the president from his portfolio.

Richard Painter:

It doesn’t matter who makes the transactions. The president knows what’s in his account. It’s right there on Form 278. He knows what he has.

Liz Landers:

And Painter says the bigger problem is the erosion of public trust.

Richard Painter:

The public will not have confidence in the securities markets if individuals with access to U.S. government information actively trade in the markets at the same time as other investors who do not have such information.

Liz Landers:

When it comes to presidential jobs, perception matters.

For the PBS News Hour, I’m Liz Landers.

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos