By Courtney Rozen
WASHINGTON, Sept 22 (Reuters) – US President Donald Trump bought as much as $50,000 worth of shares and sold as much as $15,000 in Elon Musk’s SpaceX in July, according to a public financial disclosure, his latest transactions involving a government contractor run by his former adviser.
Trump bought between $15,001 and $50,000 worth of shares in SpaceX on July 10, according to a financial disclosure he signed on September 8. He sold between $1,001 and $15,000 worth of shares on July 17, according to the same disclosure.
The latest trades add a new financial link between the president and Musk’s rocket company at a time when the administration is making decisions that could affect the firm’s fortunes.
SpaceX priced the biggest-ever US IPO on June 12, valuing the space, satellite and AI provider at $1.77 trillion. Reuters previously reported that Trump bought shares in SpaceX in June.
SpaceX’s share price fell by 15% between July 10 and 17, the period when Trump made the trades.
In a statement to Reuters at the time, White House spokesman Davis Ingle said third-party financial institutions independently manage the president’s portfolio and replicate “recognized indexes, such as the Schwab 1000.”
Trump’s spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the July trades.
The purchase and sale were among more than 1,000 trades the president made in July. The Office of Government Ethics, the team responsible for collecting ethics disclosures from US officials, posted the form on its website on Tuesday.
Reuters could not immediately determine the precise amount of Trump’s investment because federal officials use ranges to declare the value of their assets on their financial disclosure forms.
SpaceX is a US military contractor, and often seeks approvals from federal agencies.
(Reporting by Courtney RozenEditing by Bill Berkrot)
