President Donald Trump’s investment portfolio bought as much as $2.55 million worth of stock in pharmaceutical companies that later benefited from changes to Medicare drug price negotiations, including purchases made just days before Trump signed the changes into law, according to a new report from congressional Democrats. The report, which was released Friday by Democrats on Congress' Joint Economic Committee, found that Trump's pharmaceutical holdings increased from a maximum reported value of $1.7 million in 2024 to as much as $56.2 million by the end of 2025. Up to $39.1 million was held in companies that benefited from a provision of Republicans' 2025 tax and spending law that expanded exemptions from Medicare's prescription drug price negotiation program.
His portfolio purchased as much as $2.55 million in shares of benefiting pharmaceutical companies on three dates before Trump signed the legislation in July 2025. That included as much as $950,000 on July 1, 2025, the same day the Senate passed the bill. Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment via email.
The White House has denied that the investments present an ethics problem. It has accused Democrats of "attempts to fabricate conflicts of interest," while the administration says Trump's investment portfolio is independently managed by third-party financial institutions without input from the president or his family. The Inflation Reduction Act, which was enacted under former President Joe Biden in 2022, gave Medicare authority to directly negotiate prices for certain high-cost prescription medications for the first time.
Republicans' 2025 legislation subsequently expanded an exemption involving drugs used to treat rare diseases, which potentially kept some high-cost medicines outside the negotiation process for longer. Democrats are arguing the change is financially advantageous for pharmaceutical manufacturers while it also increases costs to Medicare and some patients. A Congressional Budget Office estimate previously projected that the expanded exemptions would increase Medicare costs by about $8.8 billion over 10 years.
The timing of Trump's investments alone does not establish that Trump directed the purchases because of the legislation or traded on nonpublic information. The White House has said those investments are independently managed. According to Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee, Trump's pharmaceutical stock portfolio underwent a dramatic expansion during his first year back in office.
The committee puts the maximum reported value at: The 2025 holdings in companies benefiting from the Medicare exemptions were up to $39.1 million, the report found. There were also purchases of as much as $2.55 million in shares of benefiting drugmakers across three dates before he signed the Republican legislation in July of last year. Most notably, up to $950,000 was purchased on July 1, the same day the Senate approved the legislation.
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