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In March, Trump’s estimated net worth had almost tripled compared to the year before he took office again.
During Donald Trump’s second term as president, his personal fortune has exploded.
In late March 2026, Forbes estimated Trump’s net worth at $6.5 billion—a massive surge from its estimate of $2.3 billion in 2024, the year before he took office.
But has Trump used his presidency to make his net worth skyrocket?
Suspicious timing
According to a new CNN analysis, Donald Trump repeatedly praised companies on Truth Social just days after buying their stock. He does not use a blind trust. His family cannot direct the trades, but the president can see everything his money managers buy.
The timing of these social media posts is raising serious questions. According to CNN’s analysis, Trump made more than 40 stock trades involving 21 companies within a week of writing positive posts about them. Sometimes, his praise came alongside government action that could help those firms.
It is not clear whether the president knew about the transactions before posting.
Furthermore, it should be noted that stock trading alone did not nearly triple Trump’s net worth; he has brought in substantial amounts of money from other business ventures, including his family’s cryptocurrency projects like the $TRUMP token.
From chips to jeans
The pattern appears across different industries. On April 15, 2025, Trump shared “very big and exciting news” about Nvidia. He promised that “All necessary permits will be expedited and quickly delivered” days after purchasing up to $500,000 of the company’s stock.
A few months later, he bought up to $50,000 worth of stock in American Eagle Outfitters before praising the company online four days later. “Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the ‘HOTTEST’ ad out there,” Trump posted online. He added: “It’s for American Eagle, and the jeans are ‘flying off the shelves.’ Go get ’em, Sydney!” The post gave the retailer a massive wave of free publicity, driving its stock up over 20%.
Fierce political backlash
CNN noted that The White House has strongly denied any wrongdoing. A spokesperson said Trump acts only in the public’s best interest, adding that independent managers handle his portfolio.
Yet critics are not buying it.
“The lawlessness and corruption we are seeing from the Trump administration and their billionaire cronies is unlike anything our country has ever seen,” California Democratic Congressman Jared Huffman said.
Huffman, who has championed a total ban on presidential stock trading, co-authored a congressional report warning that Trump’s trading habits have “rendered the term ‘conflict of interest’ inadequate, failing as it does to capture the breadth and magnitude of such flagrant affronts to executive ethics”.
