Media365
A promotion from US President Donald Trump’s Truth Social account would be a coveted endorsement for many companies. However, a recent CNN investigation has raised questions over a pattern in which Trump publicly promoted more than 20 companies on the platform within days of buying stock in those firms.
The White House has denied that Trump has ever used his office for personal financial gain, saying his actions are intended to benefit the American public. It added that all of the president’s stock trades are carried out by outside financial managers and that Trump has no control over individual transactions.
However, the investigation found that Trump has not placed his assets in a blind trust, meaning he can remain aware of the stocks his money managers buy or sell. The report adds that it could not determine whether Trump knew about specific purchases before posting about the companies on Truth Social.
CNN highlighted several instances, including posts about Nvidia on April 15, Tesla on July 24, and American Eagle Outfitters on August 4, 2025, where favourable Truth Social posts closely followed stock purchases in those companies.
The investigation used an AI-assisted comparison of Trump’s Truth Social posts with the complete list of stock trades disclosed in his annual financial filing. It found at least 44 stock purchases involving 21 companies within a week before Trump published complimentary posts about those firms on Truth Social.
Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, interim vice president of policy and government affairs at the Project on Government Oversight, described Trump’s combination of social media posts and stock trading as “a case study in presidential conflicts of interest.”
Financial transactions in 2025
Trump’s annual financial disclosure, released last month by the Office of Government Ethics, lists more than 21,000 financial transactions made during 2025, most of them involving stock purchases and sales. Because Trump’s portfolio is held in discretionary accounts, brokerage firms have the authority to execute trades without instructions from Trump or his family.
The investigation also pointed to Trump’s investment structure, which differs from that of previous US presidents. Unlike presidents over the past five decades, who typically placed their investments in blind trusts, Trump kept his assets in a trust overseen by his son, Donald Trump Jr. Although outside advisers manage the investments, Trump remains aware of his holdings and publicly discloses individual stock transactions. Ethics experts say this arrangement does not constitute a true blind trust.
Among Trump’s most actively traded stocks was Tesla, with more than 50 purchases during the year totaling at least $4 million. Some of those purchases were made shortly before Trump publicly appeared with Tesla CEO Elon Musk at the White House and promoted the company’s US manufacturing plans. After the pair’s public fallout, Trump continued buying Tesla shares, including a purchase worth $500,000 to $1 million on July 23. A day later, he posted on Truth Social that he wanted Musk and his companies to “thrive,” dismissing speculation that his administration would target Tesla’s government subsidies.
Trump also bought shares in Apple, GE Aerospace, and Eli Lilly before highlighting the companies’ US investment plans in a Truth Social post. In another instance, he purchased stock in American Eagle Outfitters days before praising the retailer’s advertising campaign featuring actress Sydney Sweeney. He also acquired shares in defence contractors RTX, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman before posting in support of the F-22 Raptor fighter jet, whose production involves those companies.
Trump has said he supports legislation banning members of Congress from trading individual stocks but has opposed proposals that would extend the restrictions to the president and vice president. He also criticised legislation backed by Republican Senator Josh Hawley that sought to prohibit stock trading by both lawmakers and the president.
