Earlier this year, President Donald Trump bought up to $680,000 in shares of Eli Lilly, the maker of blockbuster obesity drugs, as the agencies he oversees embarked on an agenda that greatly benefited the company.
On May 14, the federal government released ethics disclosures revealing a list of stock and bond transactions made on Trump's behalf between January and March of this year. They included broad trades across the economy, including investments in tech giants like Microsoft and Nvidia, aerospace companies like Boeing, and big-name companies like Target and Chipotle.
In the health sector, however, the operations of Lilly stand out, a company valued in the stock market at just under 1 billion dollars. That's because the timing of Trump's purchases coincides with several favorable government decisions that benefit the drugmaker's GLP-1 business, including progress toward a long-awaited goal: qualifying the drugs for reimbursement by Medicare, the government health insurance program that primarily serves seniors, when they are prescribed for weight loss.
The disclosure forms, which bear Trump's distinctive signature, give ranges rather than exact dollar amounts for the transactions. They show seven purchases of Lilly stock made on behalf of the president through the end of March, the first of which occurred on January 6.
During that period, and right after, several Trump administration initiatives ultimately benefited Lilly. Perhaps the most important was an initiative by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which proposed a pilot program (a temporary “bridge,” potentially followed by permanent reimbursement) through which Medicare patients would pay $50 a month for GLP-1 drugs.
The deadline for drug manufacturers to submit applications indicating their interest in participating was January 8. Lilly has since been named a participating manufacturer in the program, calling it an “important milestone.”
Another purchase on February 10 of West Pharmaceutical Services shares valued between $250,000 and $500,000 was similarly a bet on the GLP-1 market. The company, which makes injectable drug devices, attributed growth in its GLP-1 business to rising revenue in its most recent quarter.
Lilly declined to comment. West Pharmaceutical Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services declined to comment and referred KFF Health News to the White House. A White House spokesperson referred questions to the Trump Organization, the holding company for most of the president's businesses, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In response to questions from other media outlets about Trump's stock trading, the Trump Organization has said the investments are controlled by independent brokers.
It is not clear from the revelations whether Trump directed any of the exchanges himself. Four of Lilly's stock purchases are marked “unsolicited,” although the Office of Government Ethics did not immediately respond to a request for clarification on its use of that term.
Trump's assets are held in a trust held by his children, and Trump Organization spokespeople have said in the past that neither the president nor his children play any role in “selecting, directing or approving” specific investments.
Eric Trump, the president's son and a Trump Organization executive, said May 15 on
He stated that index fund purchases represent investments. The disclosures record purchases of individual funds and stocks.
Lilly had a strong 2025, finishing with $65 billion in revenue, up $20 billion from the previous year. GLP-1 drugs accounted for a substantial portion of that total.
In early 2026, the drugmaker said it expected another increase in revenue this year, above $80 billion. It was a “surprising” projection, said Citi bank analysts.
Analysts at financial services firm TD Cowen said the Medicare and Medicaid market would be critical to making this happen. “The guidance anticipates a favorable impact of Medicare coverage of obesity medications by July 1, 2026,” the analysts noted.
Historically, Medicare has not covered obesity medications. In a May 2025 open letter pointing out unfavorable reimbursement decisions in government and private insurance, Lilly said, “This is not about a single drug, formulary, or insurance plan. It is about a system that limits the ability of patients and healthcare providers to choose the best obesity management treatment plan for them.”
Key to that market was the pilot program implemented by CMS, called BALANCE, aimed at helping Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries improve their health. Last fall, 12% of American adults reported that they were currently using GLP-1, according to a KFF survey, and 56% of those who had used GLP-1 found the medications, prescribed to treat diabetes and help with weight loss, difficult to afford.
The emergence of a potential conflict of interest is enough to worry ethicists.
“A president who buys or sells stock in a company whose value is affected by his administration's actions undermines public trust in two ways,” said Kathleen Clark, a legal ethicist at Washington University in St. Louis.
First, he said, the public should believe that government actions are motivated by the common good, not personal enrichment. And second, the public should believe that those inside the government are not benefiting from inside information.
A ban on stock trading by the president would require an act of Congress, although some lawmakers have resisted such legislation. Members of Congress can also buy and sell stocks.
The Trump White House and HHS pushed GLP-1 during the first months of the year. In February, the government introduced TrumpRx, a web portal that directs patients to lower-priced versions of some drugs, with some terms and conditions.
The website offers Zepbound for as little as $299 a month and directs patients to LillyDirect, the telemedicine service of the pharmaceutical company that prescribes the drug. Company executives have not commented specifically on TrumpRx, but have touted the telemedicine service. Lilly's 2025 annual filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission said LillyDirect was a “growing part of our business.”
Additionally, in February the FDA stepped up a broad campaign against “compounded” GLP-1s, drugstore-made drugs that are cheaper and, critics say, often unsafe alternatives to Lilly-brand products.
The agency made another favorable decision for Lilly in April, approving its Foundayo weight-loss pill under its Commissioner's National Priority Voucher program. The program was launched by FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, who had promised to approve high-priority drugs in record time. Foundayo was approved 50 days after presentation.
“This approval demonstrates what the FDA can accomplish when we eliminate delays and prioritize the fast, thorough work of the agency and industry partners,” Makary, who resigned last week, said in an April news release.
Not all agency decisions were favorable. The FDA asked Lilly to provide additional safety data on liver toxicity in Foundayo, although analysts don't seem particularly concerned. The company has told media that no negative safety signals have been observed.
