Report: Trump Praised Firms After Buying Stock

A CNN investigation is raising questions about the ways President Trump's social-media habits and stock portfolio intersect. The outlet's data-driven investigation found that in 2025, Trump bought shares in at least 21 companies and, within a week, praised those firms, their executives, or their products on Truth Social. In some cases, that praise was paired with promises of swift permits or favorable policy for the very companies he'd just invested in, including Nvidia, Tesla, and American Eagle.

The White House and Trump Organization say there's nothing improper: Trades are handled by outside managers, not Trump or his family, and they insist he has no input and "no conflicts of interest." But unlike recent presidents, Trump has not placed his holdings in a blind trust, meaning he can know what he owns. "This is an ethics disaster," says Dan Greenberg of the libertarian Cato Institute, who was a Labor Department policy adviser in Trump's first term. Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette of the Project on Government Oversight called it "a case study in presidential conflicts of interest," especially as Congress debates whether to restrict stock trading by officials. Read the full story and methodology.