Trump's oil investments have gained millions during Iran war as his accounts keep trading
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As President Donald Trump's wartime directives in Iran repeatedly jolted global markets, his personal energy portfolio surged.
Throughout the first six months of fighting, Trump's investment accounts continued aggressively trading energy stocks. Between the eve of the war, on Feb. 27, and Aug. 31, his nine largest oil and gas holdings gained approximately $1.5 million to $4.4 million, according to a CNBC analysis of his annual financial disclosure , quarterly corporate reports and FactSet market data.
CNBC identified the nine holdings by aggregating Trump's year-end 2025 positions in the same oil and gas companies across his investment accounts and ranking them by their disclosed value. They are: Chevron , ConocoPhillips , Exxon Mobil , Kinder Morgan , Marathon Petroleum , Occidental Petroleum , Phillips 66 , Valero Energy and the Williams Companies .
CNBC calculated the range of gains using the minimum and maximum values Trump disclosed for each holding and their share-price changes from market close on Feb. 27 through market close on Aug. 31.
Trump's accounts reported purchases and at least 23 sales involving the nine companies through June 29, which is the most recent date Trump has disclosed any trades. Because the filings do not disclose exact share counts, execution prices or which shares were sold, the estimates do not represent realized profits or Trump's precise current holdings.
CNBC found no evidence that Trump or his investment managers traded on advance knowledge of his decisions, that his financial interests influenced policy, or that he directed any specific transaction.
"Neither President Trump nor any member of his family has any ability to direct, influence, or provide input regarding how the portfolio is invested or when investments are bought or sold," White House spokesman Davis Ingle told CNBC in response to questions about Trump's energy investments. "All investment decisions are made entirely by independent managers. There are no conflicts of interest."
The Trump Organization did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story. The Trump Organization previously told CNBC that outside financial institutions control individual investment decisions and that Trump's assets are held in fully discretionary accounts that rely heavily on automated strategies .
Still, the filings are the latest example of Trump holding a multimillion-dollar financial stake in an industry directly affected by his administration's military and diplomatic decisions.
"When a president can move a market through official decisions and personally benefit from the result, the public is left wondering where national policy ends and private financial interest begins," said Donald Sherman , president and CEO of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a liberal-leaning government ethics watchdog.
Trump made profits from his oil-industry holdings as he publicly blasted Exxon and Chevron by name for "making too much money based on a shortage."
"I don't like it," Trump told reporters Aug. 3, days after they reported soaring second-quarter profits . "Chevron, too much money. ExxonMobil, too much money ... They're going to give some of that back to the public and they better cut the retail price, the consumer price."
Despite Trump's misgivings and his accounts having outside managers, ethics experts say outsourcing daily trading doesn't erase the underlying conflict of interest.
"A discretionary account is a smokescreen, not a blind trust," said Scott Greytak , deputy executive director of Transparency International U.S., a nonpartisan, nonprofit anti-corruption organization.
"Someone else might be executing the trades, but [Trump] still knows he is heavily invested in energy," Greytak told CNBC. "Trump likely knows where his money is parked and would still see the upside when his administration's actions send those [energy] stocks climbing."
Trump's accounts repeatedly traded energy stocks on days when wartime developments sent markets swinging .
On March 2, the first trading day after the initial U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran, Trump's accounts reported purchases of shares in eight major oil and gas companies, including buying between $100,001 and $250,000 of shares in Exxon.
Trump entered the war with between $3.2 million and $12.5 million invested in Exxon, according to his financial disclosures. By market close on Aug. 31, the rise in Exxon's share price had added an estimated $176,000 to $690,000 to that initial stake, before accounting for later trades, based on a CNBC analysis of Trump's holdings and share prices.
"Everything that has happened with oil has been directly tied to the largest oil supply disruption in history from the war," said Pavel Molchanov , a senior investment strategist who covers the energy sector at Raymond James & Associates. "Oil is a global commodity, so no one is immune from price increases."
Three weeks after the March 2 purchases, on March 23, Trump postponed threatened strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure before the market opened, citing " very good and productive conversations ."
Brent crude plunged nearly 11% on the prospect of de-escalation. That day, Trump's accounts reported 16 oil and gas stock buys and no sales, worth a combined approximately $163,000 to $570,000, including shares of Exxon, Chevron and Phillips 66.
"Trump's work to get a ceasefire directly played into investment decisions his accounts were pursuing and benefiting for the president," Greytak told CNBC.
The timing of sales is equally striking, watchdogs say.
On April 7, a Trump investment account reported selling between $500,001 and $1 million in Exxon shares. A little more than two and a half hours after the market…
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