A new federal ethics filing has cracked open something investors rarely get to see: the inside of a sitting president’s brokerage account.
The Office of Government Ethics released two OGE Form 278-T disclosures on May 14, covering trades made through an account held in President Donald Trump’s name from January through March 2026.
The Trump Organization says third-party institutions have “sole and exclusive authority” over the trades, and the White House says assets are held in a trust managed by Trump’s children. The president, per both statements, does not direct the account.
Even so, the document is a market signal. It shows 3,642 trades, a pace of roughly 60 per day, with cumulative volume between $220 million and $750 million, according to Fortune.
The most interesting names in the filing aren’t the Mag 7 megacaps. They’re the non-Mag 7 chip and AI supply-chain plays, the picks-and-shovels companies that benefit if AI infrastructure spending keeps compounding regardless of which model wins.
Photo by Kevin Dietsch on Getty Images
The AI picks and shovels: Broadcom, Synopsys, Cadence, Texas Instruments
The account established new $1 million to $5 million positions in Broadcom (AVGO), Synopsys (SNPS), Cadence Design Systems (CDNS), and Texas Instruments (TXN), according to investing.com.
Notice the pattern. The account’s new multi-million-dollar positions are concentrated in the AI supply chain, not in the hyperscalers that dominate headlines.
These are the companies that sell into the AI buildout, the picks-and-shovels names that benefit regardless of which cloud or model wins.
Broadcom is the most direct supply-chain beneficiary of the AI buildout outside of Nvidia. AVGO reported $8.4 billion in AI semiconductor revenue last quarter, up 106% year over year, and management guided to $10.7 billion for Q2.
Related: Broadcom makes unexpected strategic move with Google
Synopsys and Cadence form the electronic design automation (EDA) duopoly, the software needed to design every advanced chip. The two control roughly 70% of the global EDA market.
EDA is, in plain English, the design layer of the AI supply chain. No chip gets made without it.
That makes the pairing of AVGO with SNPS and CDNS a thesis, not a coincidence:
- Custom AI silicon at the chip layer (Broadcom)
- The design tools every chip company must license (Synopsys, Cadence)
- Industrial and analog chip exposure (Texas Instruments)
It’s a portfolio that benefits if AI infrastructure spending keeps compounding, regardless of which model wins.
The Dell trade that preceded a White House shoutout
The mostattention-grabbing trade in the filing is Dell Technologies (DELL).
The account bought DELL on February 10 in the $1 million to $5 million band, then added smaller positions throughout March, per Fortune. It never sold a share.
On May 8, at a Mother’s Day event at the White House, Trump told the audience to “go out and buy a Dell.” The stock surged as much as 14.6% intraday and closed up roughly 12%, hitting an all-time high of $263.99.
More Chip and AI:
- Broadcom guidance reveals one signal getting unusual attention
- Bank of America sends clear message on Palantir stock after earnings
- Veteran analyst resets Apple stock price target for 2026
Dell is now up about 107% year-to-date, according to Stocktwits, and earnings are expected on May 28.
Context matters here. Michael and Susan Dell pledged $6.25 billion to fund Trump Accounts last December, a federal child wealth-building program launching July 4, 2026.
That is the timing pattern Fortune and others have flagged. The account bought Dell, then the president named Dell, and the stock made an all-time high.
Intel and Palantir: the federally-connected pair
The filing also shows added Intel (INTC) positions through March, plus exposure to Palantir (PLTR) and Robinhood (HOOD).
Intel isn’t a normal stock pick. The U.S. government holds a 9.9% stake in Intel, acquired in August 2025, now worth more than $41 billion. INTC is up roughly 140% year-to-date.
Related: Palantir may have found its next growth engine outside Washington
Palantir is one of the Pentagon’s largest software contractors, with U.S. government revenue up 66% last quarter and a $10 billion deal with the U.S. Army awarded in mid-2025.
There’s a pattern in the names. Each one has a direct, public, ongoing relationship with the federal government, with Trump publicly endorsing the company on Truth Social or at the White House after the account already held shares.
What retail investors should actually take from this
There’s no proven insider trading here, and the Trump Organization says the president plays no role in the trades. But the filing is a structural signal worth thinking through.
Three takeaways for ordinary investors:
- The AI trade is broader than the Mag 7. The most interesting bets in the filing are in the supply chain, not the hyperscalers. EDA software, custom silicon, and AI hardware distribution have a long tail of demand if data center spending holds.
- Political-risk premiums work both ways. Companies with direct federal ties (Intel, Palantir, Dell) can rally on a single Truth Social post. They can also draw congressional scrutiny that compresses multiples fast.
- You can’t model the political variable. Dell’s $64 billion in AI orders and $43 billion backlog were already on Wall Street’s radar before May 8. A presidential endorsement accelerated the move. That isn’t a repeatable variable, and it isn’t in any DCF.
The filing is partial. The 278-T only captures the personal account, not the dozens of LLCs Trump controls, as Fortune’s source Richard Painter noted.
How investors can build exposure without the political layer
For readers thinking the underlying thesis still has legs, the cleaner way to access it is through the companies themselves, not the headline.
- Broadcom has a $73 billion AI backlog and a strong-buy consensus rating from 29 analysts.
- Synopsys and Cadence have near-100% client retention and recurring subscription revenue.
- For a diversified play, semiconductor ETFs like SOXX or SMH carry all of these names.
The takeaway is straightforward. The president’s brokerage made the same bet many fundamentals-driven investors are already making. The hard part for retail investors is separating the chip-cycle thesis from the headline risk that comes with every company on the list.
Earnings season will do that work soon enough. Dell reports on May 28 and Broadcom on June 3. Numbers, not Truth Social posts, will set the next leg of these stocks.
Related: Is Microsoft a good long-term investment in 2026?
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