Trump’s First Quarter Trades Hit 3,700, Raising Conflict of Interest Fears
By Aboki Forex —
President Donald Trump’s latest financial disclosures reveal that he or his investment advisers executed more than 3,700 trades in the first quarter of the year. The transactions, filed Thursday with the US Office of Government Ethics, span over 100 pages and involve tens of millions of dollars.
The trades include major companies that deal directly with the Trump administration. The president bought at least $1 million each in Nvidia Corp., Oracle Corp., Microsoft Corp., Boeing Co., and Costco Wholesale Corp. Other trades touched eBay Inc., Abbott Laboratories, Uber Technologies Inc., AT&T Inc., and Dollar Tree Inc.
The volume stands out. That is more than 40 trades per day over three months. Matthew Tuttle, CEO of Tuttle Capital Management, called it “an insane amount of trades.” He said it looks like the work of “a hedge fund with massive algo trades” rather than a personal account.
The exact value is hard to pin down because the documents list purchases and sales in broad ranges. But the sheer number of trades reignites conflict of interest concerns that have followed Trump since he took office.
Critics have long accused Trump of mixing official duties with business interests. Unlike past presidents, he did not divest his assets or place them in a blind trust with an independent overseer. Instead, his sprawling business empire is managed by two of his sons. It operates in areas that intersect with presidential policy.
At the same time, Trump’s son in law Jared Kushner helps manage billions in investments for Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. He also serves as a volunteer envoy for the president on issues affecting the war in Iran and the Middle East.
The White House brushed aside questions. Spokesman David Ingle said Trump “only acts in the best interests of the American public” and that “there are no conflicts of interest.” A spokesperson for the Trump Organization earlier said the president’s holdings are managed by independent third party financial institutions. Those institutions control all investment decisions, with trades executed through automated processes. Trump, his family, and his company receive no advance notice of trading activity and provide no input, the spokesperson added.