Conflicts of interest
Trump made thousands more personal stock trades in office than recent predecessors, who largely did not trade
Confidence: Corroborated · 4 sourcesUnited States · Sep 21, 2026
Subject of this story
Donald Trump, President of the United States
What happened
PBS NewsHour, ABC News, Fortune and Rolling Stone report an extraordinary volume of personal securities trades by President Trump while in office: roughly 21,000 trades disclosed in his first year and over 3,700 in the first quarter of 2026 alone. Recent predecessors such as Clinton, George W. Bush and Obama used blind trusts, divested holdings or held diversified funds, and reporting indicates Biden made a small number of trades (about 13). An ethics lawyer quoted by Fortune describes the volume as unusual compared with past presidents.
By the numbers (1)
● confirmed by a primary document · ○ reported
Figures
○
ABC News reported, from a review of Trump's annual financial report, that his investment advisers made more than 21,000 securities trades in his first year back in office.
1 source
- ABC News
roughly 21,000 disclosed securities trades in Trump's first year in office
Sources (4)
ABC NewsIndependently confirms roughly 21,000 disclosed securities trades in Trump's first year in office.
FortuneIndependent reporting, with an ethics lawyer's commentary, on how unusual this trading volume is relative to past presidents.
Rolling StoneIndependent confirmation of the scale of Trump's trading activity in dollar terms.
PBS NewsHourConfirms the extraordinary volume and pattern of Trump's personal stock trading in office.
Response
Donald Trump
No response by publication
Contacted — no response by publication.
What happened next (0)
No outcome recorded yet.