‘Jaw-dropping conflict of interest’: Trump accused of new scheme to benefit from trade war
President Donald Trump’s social media company is marketing “America First” accounts that would allow him to personally benefit from the tariffs that have been roiling the stock market and lopping value off the dollar.
Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), the parent company of the social media platform Truth Social, announced Tuesday that it was marketing a series of actively managed investment accounts to allow investment in companies that benefit from the president’s agenda, and independent journalist Judd Legum reported that his tariff policies could be used to manipulate the value of those accounts.
“TMTG said the new investment accounts would ‘offer investors access to curated, thematic investment strategies rooted in American values and priorities,'” Legum wrote on his Popular Information newsletter. “Among the themes are ‘Made in America,’ which presumably would focus on companies that would benefit from tariffs on competitors who make goods abroad and import them to the United States.”
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Other themes will include “Faith & Values,” “Liberty & Security,” and “Energy Independence,” and one of the venture’s partners hailed the “Truth Social-branded Separately Managed Accounts” as a way for investors to support companies that back the president’s agenda.
“Made in America is more than just a theme — it’s a declaration of support for businesses essential to our economy, national security, and enduring freedoms,” said Jon DuPrau, managing partner at Index Technologies Group, which is collaborating with TMTG on the venture. “These strategies empower investors to align their portfolios with patriotic and ethical convictions.”
TMTG will invest a portion of its cash reserves in the accounts, and the president, as the majority shareholder, will collect some of the fees generated by the accounts, whose assets will determine the company’s return on its cash investment and interest from outside investors.
“Trump, as President, will also be able to significantly influence the performance of these assets through tariffs and other policies,” Legum wrote. “It is a jaw-dropping conflict of interest for actively managed investment accounts to be marketed under the president’s name through a company that is majority-owned by the president.”
