Trump's oil and gas portfolio has surged this year, congressional report finds, while the broader energy sector has led the S&P 500
Americans have spent about $145 billion more on gasoline and diesel than they did at the same time a year ago, according to GasBuddy.
President Donald Trump can't stop touting the fortunes U.S. energy companies have made during the Iran war, while canvassing the country to support Republican candidates ahead of next week's midterm elections.
"The United States oil and gas business is making hundreds of billions of dollars," Trump said during a political rally in Perry, Ga., on Saturday, according to a transcription of his comments on Roll Call.
U.S. energy companies have so far posted earnings that have more than doubled from a year ago, according to data provided by Seaport Research, as global oil prices have climbed more than 85% this year. Energy stocks hitting record highs have also played a role in keeping the bull market in stocks going. Trump, himself, has financially benefitted from his holding of energy stocks, according to a report released Monday by the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee, an economic think tank made up of members from Congress.
Trump's personal wealth from oil and gas stocks increased by as much as $35.8 million so far this year, according to the report. It also said that brings his net holdings in the sector to as much as $81.6 million, so his oil and gas wealth has nearly doubled since the end of 2025.
White House spokesman Davis Ingle said the president's stock and bond portfolio is "independently managed by third-party financial institutions." All investment decisions are "made entirely by independent managers. There are no conflicts of interest," he told MarketWatch.
Yet while increased energy prices have helped boost the stock market to a series of record highs this year, "not everyone is feeling the impact of rising equity valuations," said Kenneth Kim, senior economist at KPMG.
Lower-income families often don't own stocks or have a 401(k). Those families have been feeling the "direct brunt of higher energy prices eating into their paychecks," Kim told MarketWatch.
That's why affordability remains "a key issue for the upcoming elections," said Kim.
Year to date as of Tuesday, the S&P 500 has climbed nearly 13%, while the S&P 500 Energy index XX:SP500.1010 has gained about 52%, after settling at an all-time high Monday, based on data going back to December 1994, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The energy index is on pace for its best year since 2022.
Trump said buyers have flocked to Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana for oil, after the U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran starting in late February unleashed painful supply bottlenecks coming out of the Persian Gulf. "I'm gonna say it," Trump said at the Georgia rally. "We're making a freaking fortune."
The United States Oil Fund LP USO, which tracks West Texas Intermediate crude-oil futures (CL00), has climbed by 137% on the year, according to FactSet. The State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR exchange-traded fund XLE, which provides exposure to large-cap energy companies, including ExxonMobil (XOM) and Chevron $(CVX)$, has gained nearly 53% over the same stretch.
While much of the stock market's focus has been on artificial-intelligence trades, the energy sector has been the S&P 500's SPX best-performing sector in 2026, said Rob Thummel, senior portfolio manager at Tortoise Capital. Refiners in the S&P 500 also have performed well, given the lack of global refining capacity that has created a scarcity in supply and increased refining margins, he said.
Energy giants such as Exxon and Chevron will likely experience high free cash flow in 2027, said Thummel. That can offer some financial independence and provide resilience against commodity price swings. The geopolitical risk "premium" embedded in oil prices also looks likely to "remain high for an extended period time," said Thummel.
"For oil prices to drop materially, there will need to be a long-term solution that ensures that the Strait of Hormuz will remain open and traffic in and out of the strait is not disrupted," he added.
Gains in the energy sector follow a roughly 87% rise in global benchmark Brent crude (BRN00) (BRNZ26) and a nearly 75% climb in U.S. benchmark WTI crude (CL.1) (CLZ26), as of Tuesday since the start of the year, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The surge in oil prices has contributed to a roughly 40% increase from a year ago in the retail cost for regular unleaded gasoline to $4.246 a gallon on Tuesday, according to data from GasBuddy.
And yet, the president's priority continues to be on lowering gas prices for American families, said White House spokesman Ingle.
As the Iran war drags on, Trump has made several efforts to bring down fuel prices domestically, including his decision to issue a waiver on the Jones Act, which temporarily removed some restrictions on waterborne oil shipments between U.S. destinations. That waiver was extended through mid-November. More recently, he announced plans to use Defense Production Act funding to expand domestic petroleum production, storage and refining.
Those efforts have had a limited effect so far, Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, told MarketWatch. Since March 1, Americans have spent about $145 billion more on gasoline and diesel than they did at the same time a year ago, he said.
Furthermore, instead of being the lowest year for gas prices since 2020, as some had anticipated, the Iran war risks making it the "most expensive year for gas prices, ever," De Haan said, in a social-media post.
-Myra P. Saefong
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