Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday that President Donald Trump does not personally make the stock trades appearing in his financial disclosures [1, 2].
The statement addresses concerns regarding whether the president is actively trading assets while in office, a practice that often triggers ethics reviews and calls for stricter legislative bans on congressional and executive trading.
Speaking at a White House press conference, Vance said the president does not manage his portfolio through personal trading platforms [1, 2]. He said the president refrains from trading his own stocks [2].
"The president doesn’t sit at the Oval Office on his computer on his, like, Robinhood account, buying and selling stocks, that …" Vance said [2].
When questioned about the frequency of trades listed in the filings, Vance said, "Come on, man" [1].
Vance used the briefing to defend the administration against allegations that the president personally executed the trades cited in the disclosures [1, 2]. He said he supports banning such activity to avoid conflicts of interest [1, 2].
The disclosures in question have drawn scrutiny from critics who point to the volume of activity as a potential conflict of interest. However, Vance said the actual execution of these trades is handled by third parties rather than the president himself [1, 2].
“"The president doesn’t sit at the Oval Office on his computer on his, like, Robinhood account, buying and selling stocks"”
This defense seeks to decouple the president from the actual act of trading to mitigate accusations of insider trading or conflicts of interest. By asserting that trades are managed by others, the administration is attempting to align with ethical standards that discourage active market participation by the head of state, even if the assets remain in the president's name.
