The smoking guns in Trump's new financial disclosure

[Nevilledog]

https://popular.info/p/the-smoking-guns-in-trumps-new-financial



On March 11, President Trump took a tour of a manufacturing facility in Reading, Ohio, owned by Thermo Fisher Scientific, a medical supply company. During the tour, Trump lavished praise on Thermo Fisher which uses the facility to manufacture prescription drugs on a contract basis. “It’s a great honor being here. It’s a great company,” Trump said, appearing alongside CEO Marc Casper. “You have done a fantastic job and I’d like to congratulate you.”

Later, Trump asked another Thermo Fisher executive to share “some great information about this incredible company.” The executive talked about how Thermo Fisher is producing drugs for Merck and others at the facility. Trump then explicitly encouraged other pharmaceutical companies to contract with Thermo Fisher to “on-shore” more jobs. He claimed that some pharmaceutical companies were building their own U.S. manufacturing facilities but said “they can get here a lot faster by using this great company.”

Trump did not mention that, the same day of the tour, March 11, he purchased between $15,000 and $50,000 of Thermo Fisher stock. (Federal disclosure rules only require filers to list their transactions in broad ranges.) Trump did not publicly disclose the purchase until May 14. It was listed on page 38 of a 113-page document cataloging Trump’s stock purchases in 2026.

Trump also purchased between $51,000 and $115,000 worth of Thermo Fisher stock about one month before his visit on February 12. He made another purchase of Thermo Fisher valued between $15,000 and $50,000 on March 2. So at the time of Trump’s effusive remarks about Thermo Fisher, he had purchased as much as $215,000 worth of the company’s stock over the previous month.

*snip*

[NoMoreRepugs]

1. Upon learning of this Republicans would say - 'what an incredible businessman/investor!"

[progressoid]

2. Smoking guns are meaningless.

The air is thick with the smoke from his guns.

The law doesn't apply to him.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. Maddowblog-Trump's FDA delivers for tobacco industry following $5 million super PAC donation

Given the recent pattern, it’s tough to ignore the pay-to-play appearances in an administration for which corruption allegations have become the norm.

The story about Big Tobacco getting what it wants from the FDA after donating million to Trump’s super PAC is important.

But so is the intensifying pay-to-play pattern, showing just how frequently this same thing happens.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-05-21T14:03:01.137Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-fda-flavored-vapes-super-pac-reynolds-american

What we didn’t know about the developments, however, was the possible role of a political contribution. The New York Times reported:

The tobacco company Reynolds American donated $5 million to a super PAC backed by President Trump last month, about one week before his administration rolled out a new policy that could prove lucrative to the tobacco industry.

The donation, which came through a Reynolds subsidiary and brings to $8 million the total donated by the subsidiary to MAGA Inc., the Trump-backed super PAC, was revealed in a campaign finance report filed Wednesday night.

A White House spokesperson told the Times that the donation was unrelated to the administration’s policy, and the “only guiding factor” was “gold standard science.”

Perhaps. But the timeline is striking:

April 30: Tobacco giant donates $5 million to Trump-aligned super PAC

May 1: Tobacco giant’s executive and lobbyists get an in-person lunch with Trump

May 1: Trump interrupts lunch to call the FDA commissioner and other leading officials at the Department of Health and Human Services, echoing the industry’s line

May 8: The FDA bypasses its regular rulemaking process and delivers the policy the tobacco giant wanted

Maybe the $5 million contribution was entirely irrelevant, but if so, that’s quite a coincidence.....

With a pattern like this, it’s tough to ignore the pay-to-play appearances in an administration for which corruption allegations have become the norm.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

4. Big Tobacco's bribe to trump paid off