Records show Trump touted Palantir on Truth Social after buying the company’s stock

Donald Trump scooped up shares of artificial intelligence software maker Palantir weeks before he famously lauded the stock, with its ticker symbol, on his social media platform Truth Social, according to records released this week by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics.

The records show thousands of transactions during the first quarter totaling hundreds of millions of dollars, with each trade listed as a price range.

During the first three months of the year, Trump purchased between $247,008 and $630,000 worth of stock in the now Miami-based AI company, the documents show. In March alone, Trump made at least seven purchases of Palantir totaling as much as $530,000.

The following month, Trump praised Palantir on Truth Social as shares suffered their worst week in over a year. That came as the software selloff accelerated amid the Iran war and the company caught the ire of famed short-seller Michael Burry.

“Palantir Technologies (PLTR) has proven to have great war fighting capabilities and equipment,” Trump wrote on the social media platform at the time. “Just ask our enemies!!!”

The company’s tools have reportedly been used to identify targets in Iran. Several transactions were denoted as “unsolicited,” indicating that the move wasn’t done by recommendation of a broker or financial advisor.

“Trump’s investment holdings are maintained exclusively through fully discretionary accounts independently managed by third-party financial institutions with sole and exclusive authority over all investment decisions. Trades are executed and portfolios are balanced through automated investment processes and systems administered by those institutions,” a Trump Organization spokesperson said in a statement.

Trump, his family and the Trump organization don’t play a “role in selecting, directing, or approving specific investments,” they added. “They receive no advance notice of trading activity and provide no input regarding investment decisions or portfolio management of any kind,” the spokesperson said.

White House spokesman David Ingle said the president’s assets are in a trust managed by his children and, “There are no conflicts of interest.” Palantir did not respond to a request for comment. The defense tech company is among a batch of such firms currying favor with the president during his second stint in the White House, as Trump accelerates the military’s push for modernization.

-CNBC

For violation of the Emoluments Clause: glen brown: "No president in American history has profited off the presidency the way Donald Trump has, and it’s not close"