Rep. Jason Crow slams Donald Trump for ‘enriching himself’ by trading stocks as President

U.S. Representative Jason Crow slammed President Donald Trump in a post on X on Wednesday, stating that he had been trading stocks while he was President. The Colorado Congressman claimed that Trump had made over 3,700 trades in the last three months, and criticised him for not working to lower costs for the American people. "Our leaders should be lowering costs for you–not focused on enriching themselves," he scathed.

According to an investigative report by Sludge, a day before President Trump announced a 90-day pause in tariffs, his investment accounts bought hundreds of stocks near the market low, which were not revealed until his recent mandatory financial disclosure was made public. On April 8, 2025, the day before Trump announced the tariff pause, accounts tied to him purchased 327 individual stocks worth as much as $12.8 million.

The purchases included shares of major technology companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon and Alphabet, with each transaction valued at up to $250,000, along with investments in several smaller firms. After Trump announced a pause on tariffs the following day, the S&P 500 surged nearly 10%, one of the largest single-day gains in the index's history. The report also alleged that the President's actions violated a federal ethics law.

According to the law, executive branch officials, including the president, are required to publicly disclose securities transactions above $1,000 within 45 days on forms called periodic transaction reports, or 278-Ts. The law is there to check whether executive officials are trading in companies whose stocks are affected by their decisions. Not only did Trump not file his 278-Ts for his April trades, but he also did not file any of the stock trades made through his accounts throughout the year. As a result, he had to pay a late fee, which is capped at $200. 

Trump did file his transactions in municipal and corporate bonds throughout the year, but they did not depend on the administration's policies like individual stocks do. However, the trading in April was not the only time President Trump benefited from the stock market. On August 18, accounts linked to the President purchased Intel stock valued between $250,000 and $500,000. This happened four days before he announced that the government would take a nearly $9 billion equity stake in the company. Intel shares roughly went up by 6% as a result.

These accounts also purchased Palantir stocks throughout the year as the administration expanded the company's contract portfolio, including contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). "It is critical that the public and the press have a full accounting of the financial holdings, investments, and stock transactions of senior public officials," said Craig Holman, a government ethics expert with Public Citizen, adding, "These officials are in a unique position of having access to inside information about economic and business trends, offering a prime opportunity for insider trading. Worse yet, they are also in a position of being able to manipulate those economic and business trends for self-enrichment."