Article by Li Jia, Wall Street Journal
During his term in office, Trump engaged in continuous large-scale personal securities trading; the latest disclosures again reveal noteworthy temporal overlaps between his investment activities and policy actions.
On October 8, according to CNBC’s analysis of Trump’s August financial disclosure filings, he executed 517 securities transactions during the month, involving total buying and selling amounts ranging from approximately $74.3 million to $273.3 million. Although the number of trades declined significantly compared to June and July, his portfolio remained highly active.
The most notable transactions include: On August 21, Trump purchased between $5 million and $25 million in Meta stock, the largest single transaction of the month; on August 18, he also bought between $1 million and $5 million in senior unsecured notes of SpaceX.
More notably, the SpaceX bond offering occurred just two days before Trump signed a major space policy. On August 20, Trump signed the National Space Transportation Policy, which calls for the United States to support over 1,000 launches and reentries annually by 2030 and encourages private investment and public-private partnerships in space infrastructure. As a key contractor for the U.S. military and a primary launch services provider for NASA, SpaceX is expected to benefit directly from these policies.
Largest single trade in August: Up to $25 million bought in Meta
According to CNBC analysis, Trump made 517 trades in August, with total purchases of at least $44.2 million and total sales of at least $30.1 million.
On August 21, Trump purchased between $5 million and $25 million in Meta stock, making it the largest single transaction of the month. On the same day, he also bought shares in AT&T, ConocoPhillips, Abbott Laboratories, Netflix, and Chevron, with each purchase ranging between $1 million and $5 million.
On the selling side, Trump also sold AMD and Church & Dwight on the same day, each worth between $1 million and $5 million, and reduced or fully liquidated positions in multiple stocks including Boeing, Home Depot, T-Mobile, Datadog, Dell Technologies, Palo Alto Networks, and NVIDIA, with individual sale amounts ranging from $500,000 to $1 million.
Although trading activity has decreased compared to the previous two months, the volume remains substantial. In June and July, Trump disclosed over 1,000 trades each month, dropping to 517 in August.
Buy SpaceX bonds two days before the space policy signing
Another transaction attracting significant attention in this disclosure is Trump's investment in SpaceX's debt.
On August 18, Trump's account purchased $1 million to $5 million in senior unsecured notes from SpaceX, with a coupon rate of 5.35% and a maturity date of July 2031. Two days later, on August 20, Trump signed the National Space Transportation Policy, requiring the United States to support over 1,000 launch and re-entry missions annually by 2030, and directed federal agencies to facilitate commercial companies' access to launch facilities, encouraging private investment and public-private partnerships in space infrastructure.
SpaceX is a key contractor for the U.S. military and a primary launch services provider for NASA, holding a significant position in the commercial launch market, and is therefore considered a potential direct beneficiary of related policies.
Trump previously held a small number of SpaceX shares: he bought between $15,000 and $50,000 in June and July, and sold between $10,001 and $15,000 in July. In comparison, this new debt investment of $1 million to $5 million is significantly larger.