Politics & Power
NewsOnScale Staff
October 27, 2026
A report released today by Democrats on the Congressional Joint Economic Committee found that President Donald Trump's investments in oil and gas stocks doubled in value over the past year — reaching up to $81.6 million. The vast majority of his new stock purchases in the sector came after he ordered military strikes on Iran in late February 2026.
The war drove oil prices higher. Higher oil prices made his oil stocks more valuable. The man who ordered the war profited from it.
The sequence
In late February 2026 Trump ordered military strikes on Iran. The strikes escalated tensions in the Persian Gulf. Oil prices rose significantly — Brent crude has been trading around $117 per barrel in recent weeks, up from approximately $75 per barrel before the Iran escalation began.
Trump's oil and gas stock portfolio rose in value as oil prices rose. According to the Congressional report the majority of his new purchases in the sector were made after the strikes — after he already knew the strikes would drive oil prices higher.
A sitting president ordered military action. That military action drove up the price of a commodity. He holds significant investments in that commodity. The value of those investments doubled.
What insider trading law says
The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act — the STOCK Act — prohibits members of Congress and the executive branch from trading on material nonpublic information. A president who orders military strikes on an oil-producing region has material nonpublic information about the likely effect of those strikes on oil prices before the market does.
Whether Trump's purchases constitute a violation of the STOCK Act or any securities law is a legal question that requires investigation by the Department of Justice — the same Department of Justice that serves under Trump and whose attorney general was appointed by Trump.
That investigation has not been announced.
The fuel price contradiction
Trump has repeatedly promised Americans lower fuel prices. He campaigned on it. He has blamed Biden, Democrats, and OPEC for high energy costs. He has told Americans that his presidency would bring gas prices down.
Diesel is currently at $6.10 per gallon in Florida. Gasoline prices have risen significantly since the Iran escalation began. The war Trump started is a primary driver of the fuel prices Trump promised to lower.
His personal investment portfolio benefited from those higher prices. His supporters are paying them at the pump.
The broader pattern
This is not the first time a conflict of interest between Trump's personal finances and his official decisions has been documented. His family's real estate holdings have benefited from favorable regulatory treatment. His properties have hosted Secret Service personnel at rates paid by the taxpayer. His social media platform Truth Social received favorable regulatory treatment during its SPAC merger process.
The oil stock purchases after the Iran strikes are the most direct documented case of a specific official decision correlating with specific personal financial gain.
What Congress is doing
Representative Jamie Raskin, who is expected to chair the House Judiciary Committee if Democrats win the House in next week's midterms, warned oil industry executives today that oil companies will "be held accountable" if they import Russian diesel fuel under the deal Trump struck with Vladimir Putin.
The same Congressional Democrats releasing the oil stock report are the ones who would have subpoena power if they win the House in seven days.
The $1 million voter fraud offer
Also today Trump posted on social media offering $1 million to anyone who reports voter fraud in past or upcoming elections — payable upon arrest and conviction. The White House did not respond to questions about where the money would come from or under what legal authority a sitting president can offer bounties for information about crimes.
A president who profits from wars he orders and offers million dollar bounties for voter fraud reports — seven days before an election that will determine whether Congress can investigate him — is having a busy Tuesday.
What the founders designed to prevent this
The Emoluments Clause of the Constitution prohibits the president from receiving financial benefits beyond his official salary from foreign or domestic sources without congressional approval. The clause was designed specifically to prevent the scenario in which a president's personal financial interests influence official government decisions.
The clause has never been successfully enforced against a sitting president. The enforcement mechanism — Congress — is the same Congress whose composition will be determined by the election seven days from now.
A president who doubled his oil portfolio by ordering a war, who is offering million dollar bounties for voter fraud reports a week before that election, and whose DOJ filed a preemptive lawsuit to block certification of a Senate race his party might lose — is governing in ways the founders specifically wrote the Constitution to prevent.
The Constitution has the tools. The enforcement mechanism is the election.
Seven days.
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