Even though Donald Trump ran his presidential campaign on his business acumen, he is a terrible businessman with numerous financial failings. The Newsweek magazine just discovered another one of his mistakes. The ex-president said that he sold his Apple and Microsoft way too early and lost millions.
The former POTUS broke the cardinal rule of trading stocks, “Buy low, sell high.” Instead of profiting hugely, the Trumps lost out big time, according to his own statements.
The ex-president’s just-released taxes show that in 2017 Trump and the former first lady Melania Trump sold the stock of six tech companies. Afterward, the tech stocks shot up until they plateaued in 2021 and 2022. Then the tech industry’s stocks began to correct and move down:
‘Both tech stocks were bought by the Trumps in October 2013, and both gained significantly. The Apple stock was bought for $481,505 and was sold for $833,118, making $351,613, a gain of 73 percent. The Microsoft stock was bought for $248,867, sold in 2017 for $464,558, and made the Trumps $215,691, an 87 percent gain.’
If the previous president had left his 2013 purchase of $481,500 in Apple stock alone, it would have become ten times more valuable and netted Trump $3,669,000.
Microsoft stock would be worth right at $2 million. Combining the two financial missteps cost Trump a total of $5 million dollars.
However, that did not take into consideration the peak value of the two stocks. Had the former White House resident held onto the tech stocks until 2023 and cashed in on their peak value:
‘The Trumps could have sold the Apple shares for around $5.1 million in early January 2022, and the Microsoft shares for $2.5 million in November 2021, making a potential gain of over $7 million once dividends are factored in.’
The House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee released to the public six years of the former president’s tax returns at 2022 years end. In comparison, President Joe Biden paid “$4.1 million more in federal taxes over the six-year period than Trump had.” In addition, Trump had several foreign bank accounts while he was in the White House.
Trump sent Newsweek a statement that read:
‘[House Democrats] should have never [released the previous president’s taxes.] The Trump tax returns once again show how proudly successful I have been.’
Trump tweeted in 2014 about his less than intelligent transaction:
‘I predicted Apple’s stock fall based on their dumb refusal to give the option of a larger iPhone screen like Samsung. I sold my Apple stock.’
The only problem was Trump had no records of any Apple stock sale in the previous POTUS’ tax returns for the year when the former president said he sold the tech stocks. Indeed, Trump’s 2017 tax return showed the sale.
According to information on the CNET site, the ex-president owned “millions” in Apple stock prior to the 2016 election. It was valued at $500,000 and $1 million in value, a direct match with the former president’s 2017 tax return, according to CNBC.
Gloria Christie is a political journalist for the liberal online newspaper The Bipartisan Report. Find her here on Facebook. Or at Three White Lions her book written in her own unique style with a twist of humor on Amazon Kindle Vella and the Gloria Christie Three White Lions podcast on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, etc. Christie’s Mueller Report Adventures In Bite-Sizes a real-life compelling spy mystery (in progress).
