New evidence shows Trump family 'corruptly benefiting' from presidency: report

President Donald Trump disclosed last week that he binged on corporate stocks earlier this year, when he and his administration were promoting or conducting business with some of those companies, and a new report suggests the president knew the details of the trades.

The 79-year-old president personally signed a 112-page federal financial disclosure document May 8 disclosing that he executed more than 3,500 individual stock trades between January and March, and his signature certified that he has full knowledge of his stock holdings, reported NOTUS.

"Does Trump himself know what stocks are in his financial portfolio? Yes, he does," wrote correspondent Samuel Larreal.

The disclosure reveals investments in major corporations including Nvidia, Oracle, Palantir, Microsoft, Intel and dozens of others that fall under Trump administration regulatory authority, but conflicting statements from Trump's representatives have clouded the issue of who actually manages these investments.

The Trump Organization initially claimed that third-party financial institutions independently manage Trump's portfolio through "fully discretionary accounts" with no involvement from Trump or his family, but the following day White House spokesperson Davis Ingle contradicted this, stating that Trump's assets are held "in a trust managed by his children."

Eric Trump subsequently posted on social media that all assets are "invested blindly by financial institutions in broad market indexes," yet Trump's own certification contradicts this claim, NOTUS reported. A blind trust by definition means the owner is unaware of investments, but Trump has certified knowledge of individual stock holdings, not broad index funds.

Trump violated the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act by failing to disclose trades within the required 45-day window, incurring a $200 fine. While stock trading by federal officials is legal, the lack of transparency and the pattern of Trump promoting companies in which he holds substantial stakes raise ethical concerns.

Trump posted flattering remarks about Palantir in April after purchasing approximately $260,000 in stock, and the tech firm subsequently secured a $1 billion Department of Homeland Security contract, NOTUS reported. Similarly, Trump praised Dell Computer in a Georgia speech days after purchasing $1 million to $5 million in Dell stock.

Government ethics advocates expressed alarm at the arrangement. Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette of the Project On Government Oversight stated that children managing Trump's investments "leaves open the possibility that Trump and his family are corruptly benefiting financially from Trump's time in office."

The irony is particularly stark given Trump's February State of the Union address, where he called for Congress to pass stock trading bans "without delay" to prevent lawmakers from "corruptly profit from using insider information." Trump has explicitly rejected extending such restrictions to the presidency, attacking Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) when the Republican proposed including presidential and vice-presidential stock trading in proposed legislation.

Most modern presidents have avoided individual stock trading to prevent the perception of using presidential power for personal financial gain. Jimmy Carter famously placed his peanut farm in a blind trust, and Ronald Reagan similarly divested from stocks upon taking office.

Ethics experts argue that merely knowing investment details can influence presidential decision-making, potentially benefiting or harming companies in Trump's portfolio based on official actions.