Source: Fortune
Summary
President Donald Trump’s brokerage account made significant trades in the first quarter of 2026, selling millions of dollars’ worth of Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta stocks. The account also bought into companies that could benefit from the “SaaSpocalypse” predicted by AI founder Matt Shumer. The trades were disclosed in a 113-page periodic transaction report released by the Office of Government Ethics. Trump’s account traded around his actions, including selling stocks before announcing tariffs on Iranian oil and buying safe-haven stocks during the Iran war. Ethics experts have raised concerns about the president’s active trading while in office.
Our Reading
The numbers tell one story. Trump’s brokerage account sold $5 million-to-$25 million each of Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta on Feb. 10, the same day AI founder Matt Shumer published his essay predicting a crisis in the tech industry. The account then bought into companies that could benefit from the “SaaSpocalypse,” including ServiceNow, Adobe, and Nvidia. The trades seem to be a bet against the hyperscalers funding a generational bull run. The account also traded around Trump’s actions, including selling stocks before announcing tariffs on Iranian oil and buying safe-haven stocks during the Iran war. Trump’s account is raising eyebrows, with ethics experts saying it’s an unusual position for a president to be in.
Trump’s account is actively trading individual securities while in office, a first in modern presidential history. The periodic transaction report shows 3,642 individual trades made through the account in the first three months of 2026, with a pace of roughly 60 trades per day. The account’s largest transactions look like they traded around Trump’s actions, including selling stocks before announcing tariffs on Iranian oil and buying safe-haven stocks during the Iran war. Ethics experts have raised concerns about the president’s active trading while in office, saying it misses the point that Trump has control over the decision about whether we went to war or not.
The original observation: The president’s brokerage account is moving in tandem with his actions, and that’s a problem.
