Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, said on Oct. 31 that Donald Trump is “the most corrupt president in our nation’s history” with “no close second,” in a post responding to a report on Trump’s securities trading.
Murphy’s post was published at 6:19 a.m. on Oct. 31. Its full text reads:
“Good morning. Happy Halloween.
Donald Trump is the most corrupt president in our nation’s history. There’s no close second.
Go vote.”
The Post He Responded To
Murphy was responding to a post stating: “BREAKING: Trump has made nearly 29,000 securities trades since returning to the White House, more than all members of Congress combined (22,200).” The post added the line “Drain. The. Swamp.” The figures come from an analysis of financial disclosure forms covering Jan. 20, 2025 through June 30, 2026.
The analysis found Trump averages around 80 trades every market day. It describes him as the only president this century to disclose active trading of individual stocks. His portfolio now holds thousands of stocks, bonds and cryptocurrencies, where his first-term filings were mostly real estate and private ventures.
The White House Response
The White House declined to comment on Trump’s position on a presidential stock ban. Spokesman Davis Ingle said the portfolio is managed by third-party financial institutions using computer-based model portfolios that replicate indexes such as the Schwab 1000. He said neither Trump nor any family member can direct, influence or provide input on the investments.
In July, Trump rejected the idea that his trading creates a conflict of interest, telling reporters: “Everybody’s profiting.”
The Legislative Picture
The House bill passed in July bars members of Congress, spouses and dependent children from buying stocks, but leaves the president outside its scope. Trump said in his State of the Union address that it should pass “without delay.”
Sen. Josh Hawley’s separate bill would have covered the president and vice president, and Trump called Hawley a “pawn” and a “second-tier” senator. Hawley later said Trump told him he supports a ban on congressional trading. The House measure passed attached to a voter identification bill, which the analysis describes as a poison pill for Senate Democrats.
Kedric Payne of the Campaign Legal Center said even trades not based on non-public information create an appearance of conflict because officials can influence stock values through their duties. The analysis also notes that STOCK Act penalties start at just $200, and that enforcing a ban against a president would be difficult.
Examples cited include up to $1.38 million in DoorDash stock bought in the first quarter, followed in April by a White House event featuring a DoorDash delivery of a McDonald’s order.
Murphy’s Record
Murphy’s post does not state the basis for its historical comparison. His record shows sustained focus on corruption involving the president. On May 6, 2025, he introduced the Modern Emoluments and Malfeasance Enforcement (MEME) Act to bar presidents and members of Congress from profiting off crypto while in office. He called the Trump coin “corruption on steroids.”
His 2025 year-end report says he gave a Senate floor speech detailing the scale of corruption in Trump’s first 100 days. It says he forced a vote in June 2025 to block multi-billion-dollar arms sales to Qatar and the UAE, and offered an Appropriations Committee amendment to prevent Trump from taking a Qatari jet with him after he leaves office.
In a Senate floor speech on Trump’s Middle East trip, Murphy said “when our foreign policy is for sale, we are less safe.” In July 2026, he said Democrats should make crypto industry influence “a major campaign issue” in the midterm election.