Author: Claude, Deep潮 TechFlow
Shenchao Summary: Trump's newly disclosed OGE 278-T form reveals that he executed 3,642 stock trades in the first quarter of 2026, averaging about 60 trades per day, breaking the precedent set by all presidents since Johnson who used blind trusts.
Disclosure documents reveal that after Trump purchased between $1 million and $5 million in Dell stock on February 10, he publicly urged people to "buy Dell" at the White House on May 8, following which the stock rose a cumulative 96%. Multiple other trades, including in NVIDIA and Intel, occurred prior to related policy actions, rapidly fueling controversy over potential conflicts of interest.
Trump's personal stock trading statements are becoming one of Washington's most controversial documents.
According to Benzinga, documents released this week by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) show that Trump executed 3,642 securities transactions in the first quarter of 2026, averaging about 58 per day. The 113-page OGE Form 278-T, signed and certified by Trump on May 8 and delivered to the OGE on May 12, bears a handwritten note on the cover page stating, "Filer has paid late fee," indicating that he exceeded the federal regulatory filing window of 30 to 45 days.
This trading frequency breaks with the nearly continuous practice of blind trusts dating back to Lyndon Johnson. Previously, most U.S. presidents placed their personal assets into qualified blind trusts to limit conflicts of interest; Carter even liquidated his peanut farm, Obama held Treasury bonds and index funds, and Biden likewise utilized blind trusts during his presidency.
Significantly sold off tech giants and heavily invested in the AI chip supply chain.
Disclosure documents show that Trump significantly reduced his holdings in Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft during the first quarter, with all three listed in the highest valuation range of $5 million to $25 million. However, despite these substantial sales, Trump maintained exposure to all three companies through smaller purchases.
More notably, new positions were established in NVIDIA (NVDA), Broadcom (AVGO), Synopsys (SNPS), Cadence Design Systems (CDNS), and Texas Instruments (TXN) in the $1 million to $5 million range, covering nearly all key segments of the U.S. AI chip supply chain. Large purchases were also made in Apple, Oracle, ServiceNow, Adobe, and Workday within the same price range.
Semiconductor holdings strongly align with the White House’s policy direction to boost domestic chip production. According to Quiver Quantitative, NVIDIA’s purchase occurred prior to CEO Jensen Huang’s trip to China with Trump, a visit expected to involve discussions on AI chip exports and semiconductor policy.
Bought Dell three months ago, then the White House "called for it"—stock is up 96%.
The focus of the conflict of interest dispute is on Dell.
Documents show that Trump purchased between $1 million and $5 million in Dell Technologies Class C shares on February 10, 2026. Three months later, on May 8 during a Mother’s Day event, Trump publicly thanked Michael and Susan Dell at the White House and told attendees the controversial phrase: “Go buy Dell.”
On the day, Dell's stock surged intraday by as much as 14.6%, reaching a historic high of $263.99. Since Trump's purchase, Dell's stock has risen a cumulative 96%.
Another detail in the timeline intensified the controversy. On December 2, 2025, Michael Dell and Susan Dell pledged $6.25 billion to the Trump Accounts, among the largest private donations ever made to a sitting president’s signature initiative in recent years. The White House has not responded to questions about whether there was coordination between the president’s public endorsement and the Dell family’s donation.
Intel's stock surged 150% after purchase, with the government holding a 9.9% stake.
Intel's trades are also worth examining.
Trump began gradually increasing his position in Intel starting in early March 2026, with several transactions marked as "unsolicited," meaning they were not broker-recommended. Since his purchase on March 2, Intel's stock has risen 150%.
Prior to this, the U.S. government purchased 433.3 million shares of Intel at $20.47 per share in August 2025, acquiring a 9.9% stake. In other words, Trump simultaneously pushed for government investment in Intel in his capacity as president while personally buying Intel shares on the open market.
Additionally, purchases by Coinbase, Robinhood, and SoFi occurred during a window in which the government actively promoted crypto-friendly policies, including executive orders, a federal Bitcoin reserve, and the "Trump Account" retirement plan. Robinhood is the initial trustee of this plan.
Non-blind trust sparks constitutional controversy; White House says it is compliant
Critics view the overlap in the transaction timeline as a potential conflict of interest. The White House argues that the disclosures fully comply with the requirements of the STOCK Act.
Trump's assets are held in trusts controlled by his children, but recent filings show that multiple trades were executed by brokers as agents. The documents do not specify which accounts held the trading positions or who issued the trade instructions.
An OGE spokesperson declined to comment on whether the transactions reflect Trump's direct trading activities or those conducted through managed accounts, stating only that "OGE is committed to transparency and public oversight of government."
According to Quiver Quantitative analysis, this is the first time during Trump’s presidency that he has actively traded individual stocks. The previously conservative, bond-heavy allocation in prior 278-T filings has been completely overturned.