Trump's Oil and Gas Holdings Surge in Value During Iran War, Democratic Report Finds

The value of President Trump's personal oil and gas holdings has climbed to between $22.5 million and $81.6 million, up from a range of $12.6 million to $46 million at the end of 2025, according to a new report by Democrats on the Congressional Joint Economic Committee. The report was obtained exclusively by CBS News.

The committee's Democratic minority, using data from LSEG Data Analytics, said the stocks the president holds have gained an average of 43% in value since the end of 2025. It also found that he bought between $4.7 million and $17.5 million in oil and gas stocks from March, after the war with Iran began, through the end of August, the latest period for which data is available. In the same stretch he sold between $2 million and $5.4 million. The findings rest on financial filings with the Office of Government Ethics, which require only transaction ranges rather than exact amounts.

The report arrives as Mr. Trump has openly praised the industry's earnings. Speaking to a crowd in Georgia on Saturday night, he said U.S. oil and gas companies are "making hundreds of billions of dollars." He described current oil prices as temporarily high and predicted they would fall sharply once the war ends. He added that his advisers had told him not to mention how much the industry is earning from the turmoil in the Middle East.

The White House rejected any suggestion of a conflict. Spokesman Davis Ingle said the president's stock and bond portfolio is "independently managed by third-party financial institutions" and held in discretionary accounts that use computer-based model portfolios replicating recognized indexes. "Neither President Trump nor any member of his family has any ability to direct, influence, or provide input regarding how the portfolio is invested or when investments are bought or sold," Ingle said.

Energy shares have jumped as the conflict pushed oil and gasoline prices to multi-year highs. Energy companies in the S&P 500 are up more than 50% since the start of the year, compared with a gain of roughly 11% for the broader index. Before the war began on Feb. 28, the national average for a gallon of regular gas was $2.87 and diesel was $3.68. Those prices now stand at $4.29 and $6.28. Brent crude is hovering above $115 a barrel, against less than $75 the day before the war started.

Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the committee, said Americans are paying far more at the pump while "Big Oil rakes in profits" and the president's own energy wealth grows. She said his continued ownership and trading of stocks in companies that could benefit from his decisions raises "major concerns about conflicts of interest." Democrats estimated that American families have spent an average of $856 more on gas since the war began. Presidents, vice presidents and members of Congress may own and trade stocks in office, though insider trading laws still apply.

Chevron and ExxonMobil make up the largest portion of the president's holdings among his nine biggest oil and gas stocks. He owns up to $23.1 million in Chevron and up to $18.4 million in ExxonMobil, whose shares have risen nearly 25% and nearly 22%, respectively, since Feb. 20. One notable trade came on April 7, the day Mr. Trump declared a ceasefire, when his accounts sold between $500,000 and $1 million of ExxonMobil stock. The shares closed at $163.91 that day and opened down more than 6% at $153.52 the next morning. Energy trades are a small part of his net worth, which Forbes estimated at roughly $7 billion as of September.

The minority noted the totals could be higher still, since the president has not yet reported transactions for September or October. Mr. Trump has not ruled out resuming strikes on Iran after next week's midterm elections, and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz told the Financial Times the war could last another year.