WASHINGTON — The Office of Government Ethics released quarterly transaction reports Friday confirming that Captain Sharts-a-Lot executed more than 3,800 personal stock and bond trades during the first three months of 2026, a period that overlapped almost precisely with a major diplomatic summit in Beijing attended by the CEOs of the same companies whose securities he was aggressively buying and selling.
The former president’s portfolio activity, which ranged from $220 million to $750 million in total volume, included heavy purchases of Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Boeing shares. All five firms sent their chief executives to the China trip. The ethics form, a 278T, does not require any explanation of trade rationale or timing.
The paperwork, which runs to hundreds of pages, shows the president bought millions of dollars in Nvidia stock and also acquired risky bonds issued by CoreWeave just before Nvidia’s CEO announced a bailout of that company on the sidelines of the summit. Boeing orders were discussed. Intel’s stock, in which the president holds a stake through exchange-traded funds, rose during the trip.
A White House spokesman described the activity as entirely routine. “The president’s personal investment decisions are made independently of his official schedule. Any overlap between his portfolio and summit attendees is a reflection of his well-known confidence in American industry,” deputy ethics liaison Mark Wernick said in a statement. “The forms were filed on time and in full compliance with the law.”
The 278T disclosures reveal a pace of trading that financial analysts describe as unusual for a sitting head of state. The average holding period for dozens of the equities was under three weeks. In several cases, shares were purchased the day before the Beijing meetings began and sold one day after joint statements were released.
The ethics office declined to comment on whether it had reviewed the timing. A spokesperson confirmed the agency is currently reviewing its own staffing levels and does not have a dedicated division for presidential active trading analysis.
