Trump Promoted Palantir on Truth Social After Records Show He Already Owned the Stock
New U.S. government ethics disclosures show President Donald Trump purchased shares of AI defense software firm Palantir weeks before publicly endorsing the company on his Truth Social platform, CNBC reported Friday. The filings, released by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, reveal thousands of individual transactions executed during the first quarter of 2026.
Trump’s Palantir Purchases and Public Praise
During the first three months of 2026, Trump acquired between $247,008 and $630,000 worth of Palantir stock. In March alone, he completed at least seven separate purchases totalling as much as $530,000. The following month, Trump posted about Palantir on Truth Social. He wrote that the company had “great war fighting capabilities,” directing the message at the firm’s adversaries. The post came as Palantir shares were enduring their steepest weekly decline in over a year. Selling pressure had intensified amid broader software sector weakness and commentary from prominent short-seller Michael Burry.
Background on Palantir and the White House
Palantir has cultivated a close relationship with the Trump administration during its second term. The Miami-based firm’s tools have reportedly assisted in identifying military targets abroad. CEO Alex Karp, a long-time proponent of U.S. defense modernization, has aligned publicly with the administration despite prior Democratic donor history. The company last year sponsored Trump’s military parade marking the Army’s 250th anniversary. Palantir competes in a defense technology market historically dominated by contractors such as Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.
Sales and Broader Trading Activity
The ethics records also document significant selling by Trump. On February 10, he sold as much as $5 million worth of Palantir shares, with additional disposals spread across roughly two weeks. Palantir was not the only major holding. Trump purchased between $1 million and $5 million in AI chipmaker Nvidia in February. He also bought shares of Apple and Amazon during the quarter. Several transactions in the filing were marked “unsolicited,” indicating no broker or advisor prompted the trades.
White House Denies Conflict of Interest
A Trump Organization spokesperson told CNBC the president’s holdings sit inside fully discretionary accounts managed by independent third-party financial institutions. Automated systems handle all execution, the statement said, and Trump receives no advance notice of any trades. White House spokesman David Ingle added that assets are held in a trust managed by Trump’s children and that no conflicts of interest exist. Palantir did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Read Next: What Palantir’s Pentagon Contracts Mean for the AI Defense Race
