American people are upset because of expensive petrol, Trump became rich by investing in oil stocks!

Donald Trump Oil Portfolio: A strange paradox is being observed in America at this time. On one hand, ordinary American citizens are worried about rising prices at the petrol pump, on the other hand, the world’s major oil companies are making record profits. Meanwhile, a report by Democrat members of the US House’s Joint Economic Committee has raised the political temperature. According to this report published in CBS News, the value of investments made by President Donald Trump in oil and gas companies during the Iran war has seen a big jump in value. The report, which comes ahead of the November 3 mid-term elections, could pose a new challenge for the Trump administration.

Bumper jump in Trump’s oil portfolio

Looking at data from the report, at the end of 2025 Trump’s nine major oil holdings were valued between $12.6 million and $46 million. Now it has increased from 22.5 million to 81.6 million dollars. According to LSEG Data Analytics, the value of the shares they held at the end of last year rose by an average of 43 percent.

The committee found in its investigation that $4.7 million to $17.5 million worth of new oil shares were purchased from Trump’s account between March and August after the Iran war began on February 28. This year, more than 94 percent of their total purchases of oil stocks were made after the war began. He also sold $2 million to $5.4 million worth of shares during this period. Trump’s biggest bets are on Chevron (up to $23.1 million) and ExxonMobil (up to $18.4 million). Since February 20, the shares of these two companies have increased by around 25 and 22 percent. These figures are as of October 19. This amount may increase further after the full transactions of September and October are declared.

The White House clarified the stock sale on Armistice Day

The report also mentions a particular transaction on April 7. On the evening of the same day, Trump announced a ceasefire in the Iran war. Financial documents filed in late June show that on the same day, $5 million to $1 million worth of ExxonMobil shares were sold from Trump’s account. The company’s shares closed at $163.91 that day. After the cease-fire was announced, it fell more than 6 percent and opened the next day at $153.52. However, the CBS report did not claim that Trump himself sold the shares or had prior knowledge of market movements. Trump criticized ExxonMobil and Chevron from the Oval Office in August, saying the companies were making more money than they needed by taking advantage of the oil shortage.

The White House has defended the President on the whole issue. Spokesman Davis Ingle made it clear that neither Trump nor any member of his family decides what stocks to buy or sell when. Their portfolios are managed independently by external financial institutions through computer models, so there is no question of conflict of interest. However, the report mentions that in an interview with CNBC in July 2026, Trump said that his son Eric Trump also takes care of his finances. Under US law, the president, vice president and MPs are allowed to hold or sell shares while in office, provided there is no violation of insider trading rules. According to Forbes, Trump’s net worth in September was around $7 billion, of which oil stocks account for very little.

Five big companies made big money

The war with Iran and ongoing tensions with Russia have disrupted fuel supplies around the world. According to Bloomberg, ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, Shell and TotalEnergies combined had net income of $56.3 billion in the third quarter. This is the third highest quarterly earnings ever. For the first time in at least six years, ExxonMobil earned more from refining than from extracting crude oil, according to Reuters. Chevron’s refining earnings also hit a six-year high. ExxonMobil reported third-quarter profit of $17.5 billion, beating estimates of $16.6 billion. Its earnings per share were $4.23, compared to estimates of $4.08. While Shell posted record quarterly earnings of $10.8 billion and BP earned $8.46 billion. Shell also increased its share buyback program from $3 billion to $5 billion.

American refineries operated at 95 percent of their capacity in the third quarter, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Profits on petrol refining more than doubled from last year, while margins on diesel and jet fuel nearly tripled. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz and attacks on refineries in Russia and Saudi Arabia have reduced global supply, which has directly benefited American refineries by increasing exports.

People are suffering due to expensive fuel, its effect will be seen on the elections.

Amid these corporate profits, ordinary American families are losing money. Gasoline, which was $2.87 a gallon in early February, has risen to $4.29. Diesel prices rose from $3.68 to $6.28, after touching a record high of $6.523 on September 22. Since the start of the war, each American household has had to spend an average of $856 more on gasoline, resulting in an additional burden of $101 billion on the country as a whole.

According to AAA data, the average price of gasoline during Trump’s second term has been $3.472, slightly higher than $3.471 during Joe Biden’s term. Diesel also averaged $4.343 compared to Biden’s $4.078. White House spokesman Taylor Rogers says that oil exports from the Middle East rose to 24.6 million barrels per day in the week of October 18, so prices will fall sharply once the war stops. At the same time, Patrick de Haan, an energy analyst at Gas-Buddy, believes that if we look at inflation, people are not spending a record share of their income on oil, but that expensive diesel is fueling inflation by increasing farm and freight costs. Control of both houses of the US Parliament will be decided in the November 3 mid-term elections, where these hiked petrol pump prices could have a direct impact on voter mood.