Controversy continues to swirl around U.S. President Donald Trump over allegations that he used his public authority to pursue private gain, after signs emerged that he made suspicious stock trades timed to key policy decisions.
According to The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, an analysis of a 900-page government financial disclosure released this week detected unusual patterns in Trump's stock trading around "Liberation Day" on April 2 last year.
Liberation Day was the day Trump announced he would impose a minimum 10% tariff on all imports, saying he would confront unfair trade practices and America's chronic trade deficit. At the time, U.S. financial markets took a major hit, with $3.1 trillion (about 4,747 trillion won) in market capitalization wiped out on the New York Stock Exchange in a single day.
The date the WSJ focuses on is April 8. On the day after Liberation Day, Trump's account carried out its usual buying and selling of stocks, but on the 8th, only buy transactions took place. Trump's account purchased 327 individual stocks, investing more than $3.6 million (5.5 billion won) in blue-chip stocks such as Apple and Berkshire Hathaway.
On the 9th, Trump posted on Truth Social that now was "a great time to buy" stocks, and in the afternoon he paused a large portion of the tariffs. The market then surged.
Trump made his largest stock trade on August 18 last year. The volume of trading that day exceeded $75 million (114.8 billion won), buying $5 million to $25 million each of Nvidia, Apple and Microsoft (MS) stock, and also purchasing more than $1 million each of Eli Lilly, JPMorgan and Visa. The stock with the most curious timing is Intel. That day, Trump also bought at least $250,000 worth of Intel stock, and a few days later he announced a plan for the U.S. government to acquire a 10% stake in Intel. Intel's share price rose more than 370%.
Also controversial is the fact that shortly after taking office, he invested in U.S. rare earth company MP Materials and the government then acquired a stake. Trump bought this company's stock across eight separate occasions through May of that year, in amounts of $22,000 to $155,000. Because China dominates the rare earth market, investing in a U.S. company carried high risk, but in July Trump signed the first-ever deal to acquire a 15% stake in MP Materials to foster the domestic rare earth industry. According to disclosures, Trump subsequently sold off some of his MP Materials holdings for a profit.
On the day last July when he announced the "AI Action Plan," which included simplifying permitting procedures for data centers and semiconductor factories, Trump also bought $6 million to $30 million each of Big Tech stocks.
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Trump's account traded hundreds of individual stocks in a single day, with average daily trading volume reaching $4.2 million (6.4 billion won). According to the government financial disclosure, more than 21,000 transactions were made in this account last year.
In particular, the surge in trading around policy timing and the fact that he invested in advance in companies that received government support are points that draw suspicion. Dan Weiskopf, senior portfolio manager at Tidal Financial Group, pointed out: "This level of trading volume is far greater than what most financial advisers do for their clients. That in itself does not make sense."
Trump takes the position that it is not a problem because he does not trade stocks himself. In an interview with CNBC, he explained, "Because the stock market rose last year, my account also made a lot of money," adding, "I made much more money than I ever imagined, and I entrust the investing to people I don't even talk to."
Currently, a substantial portion of Trump's assets is held in a trust managed by his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. Trump said, "Almost everything my family does could involve (government) inside information," but added, "I tell my kids to stay as far away from such things as possible, but they also get to live their own lives."
It is not just stocks. According to The New York Times, Trump also earned $1.4 billion (2.14 trillion won) in profits through the meme coin "$TRUMP" and the cryptocurrency business World Liberty Financial. The NYT noted that while many people lost money on the meme coin issued by Trump, Trump himself profited because the structure gives him trading fees. His earnings from cryptocurrency now exceed what Trump, a former real estate developer, earns from his real estate business.
Richard Painter, a former White House ethics lawyer, said in an interview with NPR: "For officials in any other administration, this kind of conduct would have been banned under the federal conflict-of-interest law," adding, "Trump is the only case of a sitting president carrying such serious financial conflicts of interest."
Melania, JD Vance Too... Everyone in Trump's Inner Circle Gets Rich
The wealth of First Lady Melania Trump has also grown rapidly. Melania's business income last year was tallied at $17.3 million to $18.2 million (26.4 billion to 27.8 billion won). Most of the income came from a licensing deal related to the biographical film "Melania," which earned $10.7 million (16.3 billion won). She also made $6 million (9.189 billion won) from meme coin sales.
The reason the film "Melania" draws attention is that it serves as a link between Amazon, led by founder Jeff Bezos, and Trump. "Melania" was produced by Amazon's film distributor "Amazon MGM," which additionally invested about $40 million for the film rights and $35 million in marketing the film. Bezos, however, claimed the decision to produce the film was nonpartisan, saying he "was not involved in the film's production at all."
Vice President JD Vance's income, including investment gains, was $1.4 million to $7.4 million (2.144 billion to 11.333 billion won). This is a sharp increase from $213,000 to $1.3 million the previous year. Most of Vance's income came from royalties and an advance for his 2016 autobiography "Hillbilly Elegy."
Anna Kelly, White House deputy press secretary, asserted: "Every action by President Trump and the administration is taken in the best interest of the American people," adding, "Neither the president nor his family has ever engaged in conflicts of interest, nor will they in the future."
