President Donald Trump has talked a lot about the strength of the stock market recently, and a new analysis suggests that his recent surge in trading activity may be a motivating factor.
The New York Times published an analysis of Trump's stock trading activity on Friday that found the president's brokerage account has placed about 3,600 trades in thousands of stocks and bonds worth roughly $100 million during his second term. The activity largely stems from an appellate court ruling that threw out the $500 million judgment secured against Trump arising from a civil fraud lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James. That ruling freed up more than $175 million in liquid assets for the president, and most of it has gone into the stock market, according to the analysis.
"Mr. Trump’s brokerage firms have authority over the accounts, the documents show, and are prohibited from accepting trade requests from him and his family. The firms also cannot provide the family notice of trades ahead of time, and The Times found no indication that the president had directed the firms to trade for him, or that he had used inside information to trade," according to the report, noting that the president seems to be abiding by the same rules as everyone else when it comes to trading.
But there is some evidence that Trump may be trying to boost stocks he already owns, according to the analysis. For instance, the NYT noted that Trump touted Intel's stock shortly before it was awarded a big government contract. Some of Trump's announcements about the war with Iran have raised red flags among market watchers as well.
"Regardless, even if Mr. Trump took official action to support any of those companies, federal law does not prohibit it. The president is exempt from a conflict-of-interest law that prohibits federal employees from taking actions in their official roles that benefit their own financial interests," the report added.
Anna Kelly, a White House spokeswoman, told the NYT that Trump “only acts in the best interests of the American public,” and that “there are no conflicts of interest.”