Stocks have soared in the aftermath of
President-elect Donald Trump's Election Day victory last month, with the
Dow Jones industrial average on Tuesday closing up nearly 920 points –
or more than 5 percent – from where it sat on Nov. 8.
Investors have widely benefited from a bullish market, but it seems that Trump himself wasn't in on the party.
A spokesman for President-elect Donald Trump on
Tuesday said on a conference call that the businessman turned
commander-in-chief quietly offloaded the entirety of his stock portfolio
in June.
As noted by The Associated Press, the Trump team did not provide proof
of the sell-off. It also wasn't immediately clear why Trump would
choose not to disclose such information as he was attacked repeatedly in
a heated campaign with Democratic rival Hillary Clinton for not
revealing financial data, like his past tax filings.
Almost immediately after his victory over Clinton, meanwhile, Trump was scrutinized heavily for potential conflicts of interest he'd bring to the White House.
Since Trump has refused to release his tax
returns, it is also not immediately clear how much money his investments
had netted him over the years. Per the Stock Act of 2012,
Trump would have been required as president to file a report within 45
days after overseeing stock transactions exceeding $1,000 in value.
Trump's transition team did not immediately return a request for comment.
As noted by Forbes,
former GOP nominee Mitt Romney sold off a significant number of
investments in companies like Boeing, Bank of America and McDonald's as
he ran for president in the 2012 cycle.
Previous presidents also have
moved to divest themselves of potential conflicts of interest by placing
assets in a blind trust.
But Romney had enough financial disclosure forms
in the public record that his sell-off could be confirmed.
Trump does
not. Kurt Eichenwald, a senior writer at Newsweek who has covered Trump
critically, tweeted Tuesday that Trump has falsely claimed to have
offloaded his stock holdings before.
Trump said in a Fox Business interview earlier this year that he'd "never been a big investor in the stock market." But a financial disclosure form
released in May estimated Trump held up to around $40 million in equity
at the time, with a portfolio that included holdings in companies like
ConocoPhillips, Halliburton, Apple, Caterpillar and Citigroup.
The form also indicated he held shares of Boeing
– a company Trump tweeted about negatively Tuesday morning, calling for
the cancellation of their Air Force One work due to an alleged price
tag of $4 billion.
Boeing's stock temporarily tanked following Trump's tweet. The company responded later in the day,
stating it was "under contract for $170 million to help determine the
capabilities of these complex military aircraft that serve the unique
requirements of the president of the United States."
In a statement, the Air Force also said it had
budgeted $2.7 billion "in the fiscal year 2017 Future Years Defense
Program for research, development, test and evaluation" connected to new
Air Force One costs, but that officials "expect this number to change
as the program matures with the completion of the risk reduction
activities."
The current Boeing 747 aircraft that fly the
president around the world are more than 25 years old, and Boeing was
previously selected by the Pentagon to build their replacements. The new vessels aren't due to be completed for years.
It wasn't immediately clear what prompted Trump's tweet. As The Washington Post pointed out, comments by Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg were published shortly before Trump's tweet by the Chicago Tribune.
In the comments, Muilenburg appeared to praise
globalization and trade, particularly with China. The comments do not
line up with Trump's public stance on the future of U.S. trade
relations.
Previous presidents also have moved to divest themselves of potential conflicts of interest by placing assets in a blind trust.
Trump does not. Kurt Eichenwald, a senior writer at Newsweek who has covered Trump critically, tweeted Tuesday that Trump has falsely claimed to have offloaded his stock holdings before.
Trump said in a Fox Business interview earlier this year that he'd "never been a big investor in the stock market." But a financial disclosure form
released in May estimated Trump held up to around $40 million in equity
at the time, with a portfolio that included holdings in companies like
ConocoPhillips, Halliburton, Apple, Caterpillar and Citigroup.
The form also indicated he held shares of Boeing
– a company Trump tweeted about negatively Tuesday morning, calling for
the cancellation of their Air Force One work due to an alleged price
tag of $4 billion.
Boeing's stock temporarily tanked following Trump's tweet. The company responded later in the day,
stating it was "under contract for $170 million to help determine the
capabilities of these complex military aircraft that serve the unique
requirements of the president of the United States."
In a statement, the Air Force also said it had
budgeted $2.7 billion "in the fiscal year 2017 Future Years Defense
Program for research, development, test and evaluation" connected to new
Air Force One costs, but that officials "expect this number to change
as the program matures with the completion of the risk reduction
activities."
The current Boeing 747 aircraft that fly the
president around the world are more than 25 years old, and Boeing was
previously selected by the Pentagon to build their replacements. The new vessels aren't due to be completed for years.
It wasn't immediately clear what prompted Trump's tweet. As The Washington Post pointed out, comments by Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg were published shortly before Trump's tweet by the Chicago Tribune.
In the comments, Muilenburg appeared to praise
globalization and trade, particularly with China. The comments do not
line up with Trump's public stance on the future of U.S. trade
relations.
Out Of Topic Show Konversi KodeHide Konversi Kode Show EmoticonHide Emoticon