Quote · The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Surfaces and Crashes Out at Presser
Where this was said
Trump Deflects on $2 Billion in Personal Trades
At 7:45 · chapter starts 4:28
Ben Meiselas plays the clip of a reporter asking Trump how he responds to critics who say he is profiting off the presidency, citing financial disclosures showing close to $2 billion in trades and 21,000 individual stock transactions. Trump's response is to pivot: the stock market is up, everybody's 401k is doing well, and he sarcastically thanks himself — 'Thank you, President Trump.' Meiselas frames this as a classic deflection, noting Trump never addresses the specific volume of personal trading. The segment also includes Trump defending the Qatar jet as a point of national pride, claiming 'the country should be very proud of it' while brushing past questions about its billion-dollar renovation cost paid by taxpayers.
Qatar donated a $400 million jet to Trump, which was then renovated to the tune of over $1 billion by American taxpayers.
Qatar gave Trump a $400 million jet. American taxpayers then spent over $1 billion renovating it. Trump is openly planning to keep it as his personal plane after leaving office — and called it a point of 'national pride.'
Trump's financial disclosures show close to $2 billion made from stock and crypto trades — 21,000 of them across 8 accounts while serving as president, averaging about 80 trades per day. No other president since 1990 came anywhere close to this volume.
Pressed on profiting from the presidency, Trump pointed to the rising stock market and said 'we're all profiting' — sarcastically thanking himself for 401k gains. He never acknowledged the specific volume or scale of his personal trading activity.
Trump's latest financial disclosures show he made close to $2 billion from stock and crypto trades while serving as president.