Eric Trump said the Trump family’s assets are held in a blind trust that tracks broad market indexes, not individual stocks. Rep. Don Beyer countered by pointing to Donald Trump’s U.S. ethics filing showing thousands of individual stock purchases and sales, in
Eric Trump insisted Friday that the Trump family’s investments are handled through a blind trust that buys and sells only broad-market exposure. He also said anyone suggesting individual Trump family members are trading specific stocks is “blatantly false.”
Rep. Don Beyer moved quickly to rebut that claim, citing the same financial disclosure signed by President Donald Trump—linking to what Beyer called “outright lies” with what he described as literal proof of individual stock activity.
Eric Trump’s argument came after President Trump disclosed a major set of trades from the first quarter. with figures ranging from $220 million to $750 million. according to a filing released by the U.S.. Office of Government Ethics on Thursday.. That report shows thousands of individual stock purchases and sales across a wide array of companies.
Sen.. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) also took aim at the Trump administration’s China trip. tweeting that the president brought NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang on a trip to lobby Xi Jinping to buy advanced AI chips—an effort she argued would pose a “U.S.. national security threat.” She added that it turns out Trump bought “millions in NVIDIA’s stock. ” a point that quickly fed into the broader dispute over whether the Trump family’s holdings are truly insulated from discretionary decisions.
In response, Eric Trump said all family assets are invested in a blind trust managed by major financial institutions, with exposure through “broad market indexes.” He said suggesting individual stocks are being bought or sold at the discretion of any member of the Trump family would be a lie.
“To suggest that individual stocks are being bought or sold. at the discretion of any member of the Trump family. would be a lie and blatantly false. ” Eric Trump wrote.. “Using a silly example. if you buy the ‘Schwab 1000. ’ you will get some exposure to Nvidia – as well as a 1. 000 other U.S.. companies large- and mid-cap stocks.”
Beyer said Eric Trump’s response did not match what Donald Trump’s disclosure shows.. “Outright lies,” Beyer wrote.. “Trump’s assets aren’t in a blind trust. and he bought and sold individual Nvidia stock in 15 separate transactions totaling millions of dollars.. That’s what Trump’s financial disclosure – which has his signature – says.. See for yourself.”
The disclosure is 113 pages long and lists 2,345 purchases, mostly of individual stocks, and 1,296 sales, mostly of individual stocks. The fight over what counts as “blind” at the center of Eric Trump’s rebuttal is not just political—it turns on how the disclosure characterizes the trading activity.
Fortune reported that Donald Trump is the first president since at least Lyndon Johnson to trade individual securities.. Since Johnson, it said every president has placed assets in a blind trust managed by independent trustees.. Trump said during his first term that his assets were kept in such an arrangement. but Fortune noted that Walter Shaub. head of the Office of Government Ethics. resigned in July 2017 and concluded the blind trust was “not even halfway blind.”
The White House has insisted there are no conflicts of interest.
With the newest batch of trades and the public exchange between Eric Trump and lawmakers. the argument over blind trusts is once again playing out in public—this time with lawmakers pointing directly to the hundreds of pages of transactions and a claim of “millions” in Nvidia trades set against the Trump family’s insistence that nothing is controlled directly from within the family.
Eric Trump Don Beyer blind trust Office of Government Ethics Nvidia stock trades financial disclosure Elizabeth Warren United States politics