North American News Service Report: Investment accounts owned by U.S. President Trump recorded an unusually high volume of securities transactions in July this year. The latest financial disclosure shows these accounts logged 1,156 trades for the month, nearly 40 times the 29 trades that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made for the entire year of 2025. Estimated from the disclosed amount ranges, the total scale of Trump’s securities trades in July stood at a minimum of roughly $79 million and could reach as high as $270 million.
It is important to emphASIze that the public filings record transactions executed within Trump’s investment accounts and do not prove that every trade was decided or personally carried out by Trump himself. The Trump Organization previously stated that the large volume of trades stemmed from automated investment strategies and were not directly controlled by Trump.
1,156 Trades Disclosed in a Single Month
According to the latest periodic transaction report submitted to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE), accounts under Trump executed 1,156 securities trades in July, including 440 buy orders and 716 sell orders. The transactions covered individual stocks, exchange-traded funds and other securities.
Since U.S. government financial disclosures generally only require reporting transaction amount brackets rather than exact deal values, the precise total value of these trades cannot be calculated. Estimates from public data place the total value of Trump’s July securities trades between $79 million and $270 million.
Business Insider calculated that Trump purchased at least approximately $44.6 million worth of securities and sold at least $34.5 million in assets during the month.
Large Sell Orders Hit Microsoft and Amazon
One of the largest transactions in Trump’s accounts for July took place on July 20. On that day, stocks of Microsoft and Amazon, valued between $5 million and $25 million each, were sold. The combined minimum value of these two trades already hit $10 million.
The disclosure also showed the accounts carried out extensive adjustments to many other tech stocks and large-cap corporate securities during the period. This trading pattern does not necessarily mean a complete exit from any given company. Trump’s investment portfolio was previously believed to adopt a strategy similar to "direct indexing", which replicates major indices through frequent buying and selling of individual stocks while utilizing some investment losses for tax management.
Therefore, the 1,156 trades most likely reflect frequent rebalancing of a large investment portfolio and cannot simply be interpreted as Trump personally making active trading judgments for more than 1,100 individual companies or securities.
Bessent Only Completed 29 Trades for the Whole Year
By contrast, Treasury Secretary Bessent’s 2025 annual financial disclosure showed he made only 29 trades for the entire year, all sell orders. Only three of the trades involved single stocks, and another eight involved fund interests related to Key Square Partners, the investment firm he founded.
Bessent has more than 40 years of experience in the financial industry. He previously worked at Soros Fund Management and took part in the famous sterling trade in 1992. Nevertheless, his personal asset allocation turned markedly conservative after entering government service.
Disclosures show Bessent declared assets worth at least $228 million, of which more than $150 million was concentrated across three bank accounts.
As a cabinet official, Bessent was required to dispose of some assets or make other arrangements under ethics rules upon taking office, which is an important reason why his trades were dominated by sell orders. In comparison, the legal framework governing conflicts of interest for the President and Vice President is not entirely identical.
A Disclosure Error Led to a $200 Fine
Bessent’s financial disclosure also contained one reporting error. JPMorgan Chase shares worth $100,000 to $250,000 owned by his husband were initially misclassified as bank deposits instead of equity assets.
U.S. Treasury ethics officials stated that after the error was discovered in July 2025, the relevant shares were sold immediately, and Bessent was later assessed a $200 penalty.
High-Frequency Trading Draws Renewed Attention
The trading frequency of Trump’s investment accounts has continued to attract attention in recent years. U.S. Office of Government Ethics rules generally require senior officials subject to public financial disclosure to report purchases and sales of specific securities exceeding $1,000, and periodic transaction reports must be submitted within the required time frame after learning of the trades.
The latest disclosures show trading activity in Trump’s accounts in July was far higher than that of most senior U.S. government officials. Still, the sheer number of trades alone cannot determine trading motives, whether Trump was directly involved in decision-making, or whether the related investments ultimately turned a profit.
The Trump Organization previously attributed the large volume of trades to automated investments and portfolio rebalancing. Meanwhile, Trump has publicly supported congressional discussions on stock trading restrictions for lawmakers, yet whether and how existing related proposals apply to the President and Vice President remains a separate policy issue.