Trump trades $74–273M in tech stocks, medals for CEOs same day

President Trump disclosed 517 securities trades in August, totaling between $74.3 million and $273 million, according to ethics filings released Thursday. The portfolio activity included up to $5 million in SpaceX senior unsecured bonds, up to $25 million in Meta shares, up to $6 million in Microsoft stock, and smaller amounts in Oracle, Nvidia, Tesla, Alphabet, Advanced Micro Devices, and Dell. The timing has drawn scrutiny: Trump purchased the SpaceX bonds on August 18, two days before the White House announced a presidential memorandum aimed at accelerating America's space transportation by expediting permitting and environmental review—policies that could benefit SpaceX, a major federal contractor.

On Thursday, the same day the disclosure was released, Trump presented National Medals of Science to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and Advanced Micro Devices CEO Lisa Su. He awarded National Medals of Technology and Innovation to Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at a "New Golden Age Summit" in Washington. The proximity of the trades to both the summit and policy announcements has prompted ethics concerns. Richard Painter, former top ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, told CNN: "There is a conflict of interest. I'm not saying he's doing anything illegal, but this really gives the appearance of corruption." Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren called the pattern "corruption, plain and simple."

The White House and Trump Organization maintained that Trump was not personally involved in the trades. Davis Ingle, a White House spokesperson, stated that Trump's portfolio is "independently managed by third-party financial institutions" in discretionary accounts using "computer-based model portfolios that automatically replicate recognized indexes, such as the Schwab 1000." A Trump Organization statement said: "Neither President Trump, his family, nor The Trump Organization plays any role in selecting, directing, or approving specific investments." Federal law does not subject the president, vice president, or members of Congress to conflict of interest restrictions. The 517 trades in August represented a slower pace than previous months, during which Trump's accounts typically exceeded 1,000 transactions; across the first eight months of 2026, Trump has disclosed over 9,200 transactions.