President Donald Trump's net worth has surged to approximately $6.5 billion, according to a Forbes calculation from March, with earnings of $2.2 billion in 2025 from ventures including cryptocurrency, Trump Bibles, and early access to his Truth Social posts. Meanwhile, his approval rating has plummeted to a record low of 33% among registered voters, according to an FT poll this week.
Trump's Claims of Altruism and Stock Market Gains
In a Truth Social post on Sunday night, Trump defended his financial activities, writing, "I do this for our Country, not myself." He accompanied the post with an AI-generated image of himself trading Intel stock, claiming, "I've made Hundreds of Billions of Dollars on Stocks, and many other type Holdings, for the U.S.A., not myself, and all I do is get criticized by the Radical Left Dumocrats. Very unfair, but what can you do!"
His post appears to reference the US government's 9.9% stake in Intel, taken last year. That stake was valued at $8.9 billion at the time and has since grown nearly fivefold as of Friday. The White House released a statement in May calling Intel's surging stock price "a direct windfall for American taxpayers."
Conflicts of Interest and Congressional Trading
Trump's stock trading has raised ethical concerns. His latest government disclosure shows he made more than 1,000 equity trades in June. A report published in August by Democrats on Congress's joint economic committee noted that Trump's holdings in oil and gas stocks had risen by nearly $16 million due to the war with Iran. The report stated, "Experts on government ethics have flagged how rare it is for presidents to hold and trade stocks in individual companies, especially since Trump's war in Iran and his other favors to the oil industry have all pushed up the value of Big Oil stocks."
Trump is not alone among politicians with potential conflicts of interest. A 2022 New York Times investigation found that, from 2019 to 2021, 97 lawmakers or their family members traded financial assets in industries affected by their committee work. For instance, the wife of retired Democratic congressman Alan Lowenthal sold her Boeing shares a day before a House committee, on which Lowenthal sat, released a critical report about the company. Lowenthal told the Times he was not involved in the trade.
Public Trust and Legislative Efforts
A majority of Americans support legislation to prevent lawmakers and their families from trading individual stocks. A bill to this effect is progressing through Congress, though it does not apply to the president or vice-president.
Despite Trump's low overall approval rating, the same FT poll found that 72% of Republicans still approve of his performance, down from 82% in May. This enduring support persists even as the president's stock portfolio grows, leaving many Americans to grapple with rising costs of necessities like electricity and groceries.
