President Donald Trump purchased up to $5 million in SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) bonds just two days before signing a major order to accelerate the U.S. commercial space industry.
According to a disclosure released on October 8, Trump bought $1-5 million worth of senior unsecured SpaceX bonds on August 18, two days before signing a memorandum to usher in a “golden age” of American space transportation.
More precisely, the initiative seeks to expand launch and reentry activity on U.S. soil to more than 1,000 operations annually by 2030, partly by speeding up permitting procedures and environmental reviews. The securities themselves mature in July 2031 and carry an interest rate of 5.35%.
This is how much Trump is up on SpaceX stock
SpaceX stock was trading at $160 at the press time, October 9, having gained nearly 12% since Trump made his purchase.
Elon Musk’s space company, naturally, stands to benefit from the policies intended to reduce regulatory barriers for commercial space operators, so the timing behind Trump’s bond move has renewed concerns about potential conflicts of interest.
However, the White House has maintained in the past that Trump does not personally direct his investment decisions, with his stock and bond portfolio independently managed by third-party financial institutions through discretionary accounts.
The SpaceX transaction was also just one of more than 500 trades the president made in August, according to the same disclosures. Other notable moves included up to $25 million in Meta (NASDAQ: META) and up to $6 million in Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) stock.
Overall, while the filings indeed do not pove that Trump’s bond purchase influenced the administration’s space policy, the timing has nonetheless intensified scrutiny of how the president’s portfolio is managed while his administration makes decisions that could affect companies in which he invests.
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