A report released Friday by the Joint Economic Committee's Democratic minority says President Trump's pharmaceutical stock holdings increased sharply after he returned to office, with a large share held in companies that benefited from a Republican-backed Medicare exemption. According to the report, the maximum reported value of his pharma holdings grew from $1.7 million in 2024 to as much as $56.2 million by the end of 2025, including up to $39.1 million in companies helped by an expanded orphan drug exclusion in the 2025 tax and spending law.
The report also says Trump's portfolio bought as much as $2.55 million in shares of benefiting drugmakers on three dates before he signed the legislation in July 2025, including up to $950,000 on the day the Senate passed the bill. It later bought up to $1 million in AbbVie stock in August 2025. Democrats estimate that Medicare beneficiaries using Keytruda or Opdivo could pay about $5,000 more per year than if Medicare had negotiated prices for those drugs.
The White House denied any ethics problem. Spokesperson Davis Ingle said the portfolio is independently managed by third-party financial institutions and that neither Trump nor his family can direct or influence investment decisions. The report's findings come as Trump has made lower drug prices a central policy goal, though the orphan drug exemption could leave some beneficiaries paying thousands more for certain cancer treatments.