President Donald Trump has promoted more than 20 companies, including Nvidia, Tesla and Apple, within days of purchasing their shares, according to a CNN investigation.
Summary
- CNN linked Trump’s company promotions to stock purchases made only days earlier.
- Trump bought up to $500,000 in Nvidia shares before announcing faster AI permits.
- The findings have added pressure to include ethics rules in the CLARITY Act.
CNN found that several Truth Social posts announced or praised government actions that could benefit companies held in Trump’s investment accounts. The report has renewed questions about whether his financial interests conflict with decisions made by his administration.
Among the cases examined, CNN pointed to a 2025 post in which Trump announced that his administration would speed up the permits needed by Nvidia and similar companies to build artificial intelligence supercomputers in the United States.
Financial records reviewed by CNN showed that Trump had purchased between $200,000 and $500,000 worth of Nvidia shares several days before publishing the post. The investigation also linked the timing of his purchases to later public comments involving Tesla, Apple and other major companies.
CNN did not report evidence that Trump personally ordered the trades or made the related government decisions to raise the value of his holdings. However, the outlet reported that Trump has not placed his assets in a blind trust, leaving open the possibility that he could know what his investment managers are buying or selling.
White House denies Trump controls the trades
Responding to the report, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said Trump does not manage the accounts involved in the transactions. According to Kelly, his assets are “held in fully discretionary accounts managed by independent third-party financial institutions.”
Trump has also previously said that professional fund managers control his investments, according to an earlier crypto.news report. His defense separates the timing of the trades from his own actions, although CNN noted that the arrangement does not meet the requirements of a blind trust.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro criticized the transactions after CNN published its findings. Writing on X, the Democratic lawmaker described the situation as: “Profits for him and his billionaire friends, higher prices for you.”
Neither the White House response cited by CNN nor Trump’s earlier comments addressed every company identified by the investigation. CNN also reported no finding that the trades broke federal securities law.
Stock scrutiny adds pressure to CLARITY talks
Questions over Trump’s stock holdings have surfaced as lawmakers debate whether the CLARITY Act should restrict senior government officials from participating in the crypto industry. According to the report, an ethics provision remains a key point of disagreement in efforts to secure bipartisan support for the market structure bill.
Trump’s 2025 annual financial disclosure has added to the dispute by showing that he received as much as $1.4 billion from crypto-related activities. Critics in Congress have cited those earnings while calling for rules that would limit the president’s ability to profit from digital assets during his term.
When previously questioned about his crypto income, Trump denied knowing the amount he had earned, according to CNN. He also argued that receiving the income would not be illegal even if he knew about it.
The stock investigation is expected to follow Trump into his meeting with senators on the CLARITY Act. Lawmakers have yet to resolve whether the bill will include conflict-of-interest restrictions covering the president and other senior officials.
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