Aide says Trump sold all stocks in June, provides no evidence

Word comes amid questions about potential conflicts.

WA S H I N G TO N — P r e s i - dent-elect Donald Trump sold all of his stocks in June as he plunged into the costly general election campaign, his transition team abruptly announced Tuesday.

His advisers provided no proof of the transactions and would not explain the apparent sell-off.

The announcement comes amid questions about potent i a l c o n f l i c t s o f i n t e r e s t bet ween Trump’s expansive financial holdings and the decisions that will reach his desk as president. Some details of Trump’s finances are unknown given that he never released his tax returns during the presidential campaign, breaking decades of precedent.

On Tuesday, Trump said t h e g o v e r n men t s h o u l d cancel its multibillion-dollar order with Boeing for new Air Force One presidential planes. Asked on a conference call with reporters whether Trump had investments in Boeing, spokesman Jason Miller said the president-elect had sold all of his stocks in June.

Trump’s campaign did not announce the sell-off at the time, despite the fact that it could have been politically advantageous for the businessman to be seen taking steps to avoid potential conflicts of interest.

Miller, as well as other transition officials and lawyers from the Trump Organization, did not respond to requests to provide evidence of the transactions.

As of May, Trump reported owning millions of dollars’ worth of individual stocks, though he had more money in company-specific investm e n t s t h r o u g h b o n d s , mutual funds and private equity investments, according to his 104-page public financial disclosure, which all presidential candidates are required to file. It’s not clear whether the comments Tuesday referenced Trump’s nonstock holdings.

Trump reported in May an invest ment in Boeing worth between $50,000 and $100,000. Other investments were in companies — such as Ford Motor Co., V F Corp. and Thermo Fisher Scientific — that in recent years have moved jobs outside the U.S., a practice that Trump heavily criticized during the campaign.

The disclosure also showed Trump held a small amount o f s t o c k i n Tex a s - b a s e d Energy Transfer Partners and at le ast $100,000 in the energy company Phillips 66, both of which are involved in the di sputed Dakota Access oil pipeline. Earlier this week, the Army declined to issue a permit for the pipeline to cross the Missouri River reservoir in North Dakota. Trump supports construction of the pipeline, and aides say he will review the project after taking office.

All presidents since Ronald Reagan have filed public financial disclosures in their first year in office, though they weren’t required to do so until their second year. For Trump, that means he won’t have to file another disclosure until mid-2018 unless he chooses to file earlier.

At the time of Trump’s apparent June stocks selloff, he was immersed in the expensive general election campaign. He had poured more than $47 million of his own money into the primary campaign through a series of loans.

But in June, he adjusted hi s self-investment st rategy, according to federal campaign finance filings. That month, Trump slowed his giving, making monthly c a mp a i g n d o n a t i o n s o f about $2 million as his campaign c ame to rely more heavily on outside donations. He made a $10 million investment in the final days leading up to the election.