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Economy

Trump's oil portfolio nearly doubled this year. Your fill-up costs $18 more.

JEC Democrats put Trump's oil and gas stocks at up to $81.6 million while gas averages $4.27 a gallon, up $1.21 from a year ago.

Trump's oil portfolio nearly doubled this year. Your fill-up costs $18 more.
Stock photo. Photo by Marek Studzinski on Unsplash

President Donald Trump's oil and gas stocks are now worth as much as $81.6 million, nearly double their value at the end of 2025, according to a report released Oct. 26 by Democrats on Congress's Joint Economic Committee. The same report estimates American families have paid an average of $856 more for gasoline since Trump launched his war on Iran on Feb. 28.

Most of the buying came after the bombs started falling. The committee's Democrats found that 94% of Trump's 2026 oil and gas stock purchases happened after the war began, totaling as much as $17.5 million from March through August.

Why the numbers come in ranges

Presidents don't have to report exactly what their stocks are worth. The financial disclosure forms they file with the Office of Government Ethics list each holding and each trade in broad dollar brackets instead of exact amounts. So the committee's Democrats give a low and a high estimate for everything.

By their count, Trump held $12.6 million to $45.8 million in oil and gas stocks at the end of 2025. As of Oct. 19, those holdings were worth $22.5 million to $81.6 million, a gain of as much as $35.8 million. The full report says it used Trump's 2025 annual disclosure, a transaction report the ethics office received Sept. 25, and market prices from LSEG. Trades from September and October haven't been reported yet, so the real figure could be higher.

The two biggest positions are Chevron, at up to $23.1 million, and ExxonMobil, at up to $18.4 million, CBS News reported. Energy stocks in the S&P 500 have climbed more than 50% this year, compared with about 11% for the index as a whole.

The number keeps growing. In August, the same committee Democrats estimated Trump had gained up to $15.5 million. Two months later, the top estimate of his gain has more than doubled.

What the White House says

"All investment decisions are made entirely by independent managers," White House spokesman Davis Ingle told CBS News, adding: "There are no conflicts of interest."

That claim is unsupported. The White House has offered no documents showing how the accounts are run, and Trump himself said in a July CNBC interview that his son Eric handles his finances, according to CBS. In August, CBS also reported that Trump's accounts sold $500,000 to $1 million in ExxonMobil stock on April 7, the day he declared a ceasefire with Iran. Exxon shares opened more than 6% lower the next morning. Presidents may legally own and trade stocks while in office, though insider trading laws still apply.

Trump hasn't hidden how he sees the industry's windfall. "The United States oil and gas business is making hundreds of billions of dollars," he said at a Georgia event, CBS reported.

"Trump's Iran War has forced Americans to pay much more at the pump while Big Oil rakes in profits," said Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, the committee's top Democrat. She added that "his actions raise major concerns about conflicts of interest."

What it costs at the pump

The national average for regular gas was $4.27 a gallon on Oct. 27, up from $3.05 a year ago, according to AAA. Diesel hit $6.35, up from $3.66. Federal Energy Information Administration data shows the same jump: gas up $1.23 a gallon and diesel up $2.63 from a year earlier.

For a worker who fills a 15-gallon tank once a week, that's about $18.50 more per fill-up, or roughly $80 a month, before counting what diesel adds to the price of everything that travels by truck. The committee's Democrats put the national total at $101 billion in extra gasoline spending since the war began, based on AAA prices through Oct. 14.

That cost lands on paychecks that were already losing ground. Prices rose 3.7% over the year to September, outpacing wage growth. And the administration's answer to high diesel prices so far has been shelving Russia sanctions for a diesel deal that covers about half a day of world supply.

The president's portfolio and the family budget are moving in opposite directions, and the war drives both. Trump's next transaction reports, covering September and October, are due under the ethics office's 45-day deadline. Election Day is Nov. 3, and every member of the House and a third of the Senate are on the ballot. If what you pay at the pump matters to you, ask the candidates where they stand on banning stock trading by presidents and members of Congress.

Sources

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