Key Takeaways:
A financial disclosure filed with the Office of Government Ethics shows President Donald Trump’s investment accounts made 3,642 securities trades in the first quarter of 2026, a period that included a sharp escalation in buying during the March conflict with Iran.
"The president doesn’t sit at the Oval Office on his computer on his, like, Robinhood account, buying and selling stocks, that’s absurd. He has independent wealth advisers who manage his money,” Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday during a White House press briefing.
The 113-page filing reveals a portfolio executing roughly 58 trades per day. Activity surged in March, which recorded 1,319 transactions—more than January and February combined. The buy-to-sell ratio jumped to 2.93 in March from a near-balanced 0.98 in February. The most frequently traded stocks included Microsoft Corp., Amazon.com Inc., and Oracle Corp.
The sheer volume of trading, with an estimated notional value between $220 million and $730 million, reignites conflict-of-interest concerns that have followed the president. No modern predecessor has maintained such an actively traded portfolio while in office, with past presidents typically divesting assets or using a blind trust to avoid potential conflicts.
The cadence of trading shifted dramatically around the start of Operation ‘Epic Fury’ over the February 28 weekend. The two months prior saw 859 total transactions with a balanced buy-to-sell ratio of 1.26. In contrast, March alone saw 983 purchases against just 336 sales.
The most aggressive buying session of the quarter occurred on Monday, March 23, which saw 188 purchases and only 11 sales. The activity spread across nearly 190 distinct names, with top buys in Molina Healthcare Inc., Match Group Inc., and Paycom Software Inc., each in the $100,000 to $250,000 range. This followed a period of selling in the final five sessions before the conflict began, which included sales of Walmart Inc. estimated between $350,000 and $750,000.
The quarter was also marked by a significant, one-way push into international markets. The filing records 19 purchases across nine different foreign-linked ETFs with zero corresponding sales. The combined value of these purchases is estimated between $5 million and $13.1 million.
The buying was heavily concentrated, with 12 of the 19 international ETF purchases occurring on just two trading days: March 4 and March 10. The largest position was the iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG), with three separate purchases totaling an estimated $2 million to $7 million.
While the White House maintains that the president is not directing the trades himself, the high-velocity activity during a period of geopolitical crisis has drawn scrutiny from ethics watchdogs. The next quarterly filing will be closely watched to see if this trading pace continues.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
