President Donald Trump’s personal investment accounts have continued buying and selling shares in oil and gas companies while he has overseen the US war with Iran, according to financial disclosure filings available through the second quarter of 2026.

The Office of Government Ethics (OGE) records show that, during the period when the conflict persisted, paused for a ceasefire and then resumed, his accounts carried out trades worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. The most recent data in the filings were compiled by OGE from submissions made under federal disclosure rules.

Broad Portfolio and Large Trade Volume

Mr Trump holds assets across all 11 sectors, and a CBS News review found that his accounts completed about 3,600 stock or securities trades in the first three months of the year. The trades were reported as totalling between $212 million and $695 million, based on the ranges disclosed in the filings.

Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee estimated this week that the value of Mr Trump’s holdings in oil and gas companies rose from a range of $13 million to $46 million at the start of the year to $17 million to $61 million by mid-August. The lawmakers based their calculations on his 2025 holdings and said they did not factor in trading activity that occurred after that period, which is reported in later filings as transaction ranges rather than exact figures.

Energy stocks climbed during a timeframe that included US operations in Venezuela in early January and the war with Iran, which began at the end of February. Global oil prices stayed elevated during the conflict, supporting profits for publicly listed energy companies.

Specific Trades, Including Ceasefire Day

One large transaction highlighted in CBS News’ review involved ExxonMobil. On April 7, the day Mr Trump declared a ceasefire in the Iran war, his investment accounts sold between $500,000 and $1 million of ExxonMobil shares, according to a disclosure report filed in late June.

That trade occurred the evening before markets reflected the ceasefire announcement. ExxonMobil’s share price closed at $163.91 on April 7, then fell to open at $153.52 on April 8, down 6.5%.

During the first half of the year, Mr Trump also bought and sold shares worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in Chevron, ConocoPhillips and other energy companies, based on OGE disclosures.

OGE rules require public officials to report stock purchases and sales above $1,000 within 45 days of the transaction, or within 30 days of learning about it. As a result, the OGE records do not always show trades as promptly as the underlying transactions occur. The filings reviewed also show that Mr Trump was late in submitting some 2026 disclosures.

White House Position on Independence

The White House said Mr Trump is not involved in decisions about his trading. In a statement, White House spokesman Davis Ingle said that Mr Trump’s stock and bond portfolio is handled by independent third-party financial institutions.

Ingle added that the holdings are kept in discretionary accounts and are managed through computer-based model portfolios designed to mirror recognised indexes, including a Schwab 1000 index model. He said no family member has the ability to direct, influence or provide input into how investments are chosen or when they are bought and sold.

Mr Trump has not placed his assets in a blind trust. Holding individual securities, rather than index funds or other pooled vehicles, means his investments remain visible through his disclosures.

Criticism Over Conflicts and Trade Strategy

When CBS News reported on earlier trades in June, some fund managers suggested the activity could be linked to tax planning, including strategies such as tax-loss harvesting—selling positions at a loss to offset gains elsewhere. David Salem, a portfolio manager at Hedgeye Asset Management, said at the time that such activity could be automated and that direct indexing and similar approaches require specialised technology and tax expertise. Those comments were described as his view.

Critics including Donald Sherman of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) said the president should not financially benefit from higher energy prices tied to the conflict. Sherman argued that higher prices and related costs are borne by the public, while trades by Mr Trump’s brokers could increase his profits amid global instability.

Presidents and other federal officials are legally permitted to trade individual stocks, although some lawmakers in both parties have proposed banning the practice.

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27 August 2026

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Wonder if he went long

or short ?

I'm going to start calling Trump's supporters

The American Association For the Blind.

Because they didn't see nothing* 😎

*Technically true, since they actually see something

I guess many savvy investors have been following the same path.

Oh, look. Bitcoin us up bigly in the past couple of weeks. All because Trump is pushing a bill that will never pass. All you suckers better get yours. Last chance to lose that money.

As independent as he is with Fed Reserve chairman. Entire system is a joke and no one says boo or does anything. These guys

steal at will. Don't forget the Pelosis. And you pay taxes to these swindlers.

The ultimate in insider trading. Can't get any closer to the source than the source itself.

The entire US govt. is full of these crooks.

Nothing like a little insider trading from the man who has all the information required to profit by such. It doesn't bother him one iota as the man does not have an a gram of ethics or morality in his entire toxic body.

He worships at the foot of the golden calf and that is his only God. Don is the ultimate CINO.

On 8/27/2026 at 4:30 PM, Jim Blue said:

Wonder if he went long

or short ?

It doesn’t matter he will manipulate the outcome to continue to grift money off our backs…..oh and they announced an (agreement) with Venezuela in regards to THEIR oil……gotta keep that corruption going!

Trump announces ‘biggest oil deal in world history,’ says it will substantially lower gas prices:

https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/trump-announces-biggest-oil-deal-world-history-says-substantially-lower-gas-prices

It looks like President Trump is doing very well trading oil stocks which also help to Make America Great Again and lower gas prices for the United States citizens. It seems that President Trump is winning again.

Trump hails 'historic' deal for US to control 65bn barrels of Venezuela's oil

Oh look! Trump made another deal with himself.

Looks like he made out pretty good on the deal.

Sweet! 🎖️

7 hours ago, LALes said:

The ultimate in insider trading. Can't get any closer to the source than the source itself.

The entire US govt. is full of these crooks.

Luckily, if you can afford $100,000 a month, you can get to the source. Trump will give you the same insider trading information he is using--never mind that insider trading is illegal. This is Trump, he could care less about breaking laws. Hey, you don't earn the title of Grand Master of Grifting by following the law.

Let’s hope he and his family business affairs are investigated after gop losses at the midterms

22 hours ago, Screaming said:

Trump announces ‘biggest oil deal in world history,’ says it will substantially lower gas prices:

https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/trump-announces-biggest-oil-deal-world-history-says-substantially-lower-gas-prices

It looks like President Trump is doing very well trading oil stocks which also help to Make America Great Again and lower gas prices for the United States citizens. It seems that President Trump is winning again.

Rather than call it the art of the deal it should be retitled the march of the lemmings.

I highly doubt he micro-manages his own investment portfolio.

Given that his decisions affect the price of so many commodities, you could throw accusations at him on almost anything his portfolio manager invests in.

This is just poor jealous leftists throwing more mud and hoping something sticks.