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Financial disclosures released by the US Office of Government Ethics on Wednesday (local time) show that President Donald Trump has purchased more than USD 100 million worth of corporate and municipal bonds since returning to the White House, Al Jazeera reported.
The documents provide insight into how the former businessman-turned-president is managing his wealth while in office. According to Al Jazeera, the filings cover the period from Trump's inauguration on January 21 to August 1, listing nearly 700 separate purchases of bonds. These include investments in major financial institutions such as Wells Fargo, Citigroup, and Morgan Stanley, as well as in major corporations like Meta, T-Mobile, UnitedHealth, and The Home Depot. Trump's bond investments also extend to a wide range of municipal projects across numerous US states, including New York, Florida, and Texas, Al Jazeera reported. The bonds support public infrastructure initiatives, including hospitals, schools, airports, ports, and gas development projects. While the documents do not provide exact amounts for each purchase, they categorise the investments into broad ranges, for example, USD 100,001 to USD 250,000 or USD 1 million to USD 5 million. Notably, the filings did not list any asset sales during the same period. Bonds, a common fixed-income investment, represent loans made to corporations or public authorities in exchange for interest payments over time. The White House has not issued a statement on the disclosure. However, US media outlets have reported that Trump and his family were not directly involved in the financial transactions, as reported by Al Jazeera. As per Al Jazeera, under the 1978 Ethics in Government Act, passed following the Watergate scandal, US Presidents must publicly report their finances, but there is no legal requirement for them to divest from assets that could pose a conflict of interest. Previous US presidents since 1978 have either placed their holdings in blind trusts or limited investments to diversified mutual funds to avoid ethical concerns. Trump chose a different route, placing his business interests in a trust controlled by his children, a move that drew criticism from ethics experts, Al Jazeera reported. (ANI)
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