The trades came in bursts, sometimes dozens or even hundreds in a day, all for the benefit of the Trump family.<\/p>\n
In the first three months of the year, President Trump\u2019s brokerage accounts placed more than 3,600 trades, as they bought and sold a wide variety of stocks and bonds, according to a disclosure form released last month<\/a>.<\/p>\n On the surface, it appeared to be an unusual trading spree. In prior months, Mr. Trump typically reported a couple hundred trades or fewer. One disclosure last year showed only 25, The New York Times found.<\/p>\n Some of the trades early this year also appeared to be well timed, notably a purchase of Dell shares<\/a> that came months before the company secured a lucrative government contract.<\/p>\n Mr. Trump\u2019s critics contend that he is profiting from his presidency, and worry that he could be trading on inside information, while his supporters argue that any well-timed trades are coincidental. In a recent statement, Mr. Trump\u2019s company, the Trump Organization, said that he and his family had no ability to direct the trading, all of which is controlled by outside brokerage firms.<\/p>\n To understand the nature of the trading, The Times analyzed the president\u2019s recent disclosure form, as well as other documents from his financial institutions, some of which were previously unreported. The Times also spoke to independent market experts and people with knowledge of Mr. Trump\u2019s finances.<\/p>\n The people with knowledge of his finances said that the trading surge early this year did not reflect a change in strategy, but rather stemmed from a favorable court ruling that freed up hundreds of millions of dollars for the president to invest.<\/p>\n Interviews and documents reviewed by The Times also support the Trump Organization\u2019s contention that the president cannot place trades. <\/p>\n Mr. Trump\u2019s brokerage firms have authority over the accounts, the documents show, and are prohibited from accepting trade requests from him and his family. The firms also cannot provide the family notice of trades ahead of time, and The Times found no indication that the president had directed the firms to trade for him, or that he had used inside information to trade.<\/p>\n These same rules apply to any client who uses this kind of investment product, which is held by many wealthy clients at the financial houses Mr. Trump uses. <\/p>\n Whether Mr. Trump could pump up a stock that he knows he owns is a different matter.<\/p>\n Unlike every other president since the 1970s who has owned individual stocks and businesses, Mr. Trump declined to put his assets into a blind trust. The decision to forgo that traditional ethical guardrail potentially allows him to know what stocks he owns, and to influence their performance with policy announcements or contracts even if he cannot direct how or when they are traded. The Trump Organization says he has not done so.<\/p>\n Nonetheless, the possibility means that the perception of the conflict will likely linger and continue to fuel concerns that the president is trying to manipulate his portfolio.<\/p>\n \u201cThe whole point of having a blind trust is so your virtue can never be called into question,\u201d said Jeffrey A. Engel, the founding director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University. He added, however, that \u201cPresident Trump does not feel obliged to follow the same norms and rules as everyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n Here is what we know about the recent trading.<\/p>\n How does the president invest his money?<\/p>\n In addition to owning hotels and other properties, the president has hundreds of millions of dollars in liquid assets that he keeps in accounts at several large financial institutions, including Charles Schwab and JPMorgan Chase. The accounts are held by the president\u2019s trust, and his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., serves as the trustee.<\/p>\n At the end of 2024, the trust had invested at least $236 million<\/a> in the financial markets. But after a recent windfall from his cryptocurrency ventures, the value of the portfolio is likely much higher. In the coming weeks, the president is expected to disclose more recent figures.<\/p>\n Are presidents allowed to know what they are trading?<\/p>\n Yes. Blind trusts, while customary, are not required for presidents. Mr. Trump is allowed to know what assets are in his financial portfolio and he actually signs the disclosure forms listing all the trades.<\/p>\n Once a year, he meets with one of his main financial advisers for an update on his accounts, according to two people with knowledge of the matter, who said the discussions involve a brief overview of the overall performance of the accounts. But a person familiar with these discussions said that Mr. Trump does not receive a briefing on the specific stocks he owns.<\/p>\n What happened early this year?<\/p>\n Between January and March, the president\u2019s accounts placed more than 3,600 trades, according to the recent disclosure form. Roughly two-thirds of those were purchases totaling more than $100 million, and the rest were sales. (The document includes ranges in some cases, so the exact sizes of the trades are not publicly known.)<\/p>\n The activity was not limited to a few select companies. Mr. Trump\u2019s accounts bought and sold more than 1,000 different stocks, bonds and funds. <\/p>\n Why so many trades?<\/p>\n Mr. Trump\u2019s account was unusually active at the start of the year, but market experts and people with knowledge of Mr. Trump\u2019s finances said that several factors accounted for the surge.<\/p>\n First, it was a volatile quarter in the stock market, which likely drove some of the trading. And one of the busiest days for Mr. Trump\u2019s portfolio was March 23, the day that the S&P 500 had its quarterly rebalancing, when companies are added and removed from the index, a process that can prompt heavy trading for any wealthy person.<\/p>\n Much of the trading also stemmed from new money entering Mr. Trump\u2019s accounts, thanks to a favorable court ruling.<\/p>\n In 2024, a judge imposed a nearly $500 million judgment against Mr. Trump arising from a civil fraud lawsuit brought by New York\u2019s attorney general, a decision that forced Mr. Trump to set aside cash as collateral for a $175 million appellate bond<\/a>. But last August, an appellate court struck down the judgment<\/a>, freeing up the money earmarked for the bond.<\/p>\n One of the people with knowledge of Mr. Trump\u2019s finances said that the court victory allowed Mr. Trump to reinvest much of that money into the markets, prompting a flurry of trades.<\/p>\n Which of those trades drew scrutiny?<\/p>\n A handful of trades in Mr. Trump\u2019s accounts early this year stood out, including in the chip manufacturer Nvidia and the computer company Dell Technologies.<\/p>\n In February, nine days after Mr. Trump\u2019s account executed a purchase of more than $1 million in Dell stock, the president praised the company and its founder, Michael Dell, at an event in Georgia.<\/p>\n \u201cGo out and buy a Dell computer,\u201d Mr. Trump said<\/a>.<\/p>\n Then, last month, the Pentagon announced<\/a> a $9.7 billion contract with Dell.<\/p>\n