Since he assumed office in January 2025, the President Donald Trump-led United States government has made several “strategic” investments in private companies. The practice, rather unusual for US governments, raised some eyebrows, but the Trump administration has termed these moves as protection of local companies and also invoked national security in some deals.
Since January various US government departments have either invested in or acquired stake in companies ranging from energy, metals, mining, chips and steel — the banner names here being nearly 10% stake in Intel and the ‘Golden’ share in merged Nippon Steel-US Steel entity.
With one word, or rather post, on his networking site Truth Social, Donald Trump moves markets and stocks — be it tariffs, stake announcements or investments. Now, market watchers — fund managers, individual investors and traders — have zeroed in on the phenomenon.
Donald Trump new ‘star influencer’ for investors
According to a Bloomberg report, 31-year-old Canadian trader Adam Giddens, who used to mainly rely on screening services and social-media buzz while deciding which stocks to buy, has found a different kind of influencer: Donald Trump.
The reason? Donald Trump’s next targets are likely to see massive gains in stock price on even speculation that the US government was taking a stake in it. Case in point being Giddens latest purchase — Military Metals Corp.
As per the Bloomberg report, Giddens’ portfolio already has stake in one of the companies boosted by White House interest. He told the publication that he bought shares of MP Materials Corp. before the Pentagon took a 15% stake in the company in July 2025. Since than, the stock has enjoyed a 95% rally.
MP Materials Corp is a producer of rare-earth materials crucial for electric vehicles, robotics and a wide array of electronics. The company explores new sources of antimony (used in military equipment such as explosives, nuclear weapons production and infrared sensors) and faces tough competition from China (the largest producer of antimony) and Russia (also a big supplier).
“That combination of strategic importance and supply chain vulnerability caught my attention, so I started looking for public companies with exposure to antimony. Given the size and location of their resource base, I think they’re a strong candidate for the next wave of strategic investment in this space,” Giddens told Bloomberg. The report added that he has been studying government documents in search of potential buys.
How are investors predicting next Trump, White House buys?
Given the track from MP materials in August, to a stake in Lithium Americas Corp in September, and Trilogy Metals Inc. in October traders are using “commonality” between the previous buys to speculate on future investments by the Trump administration.
This being the government’s own stated motive, that it is investing in “key strategic areas” such as critical minerals, supply chains, and semiconductors.
Aniket Shah, the global head of sustainability and transition strategy at Jefferies Financial Group Inc. who tracks the economic implications of Trump’s policies told the news agency that the Trump administration’s interest in stocks is “changing the way investors should evaluate companies”.
“Part of this analysis of businesses going forward has to be this political relationship with the state,” he said.
Amateur American trader Cole Hansen told Bloomberg he asked ChatGPT why Trump picked certain companies, what they had in common and what is the likely next pick. Hansen’s search led him to graphite producers — he picked a stake in Novonix based on a $755 million loan it got from the Department of Energy is December. But the stock has since fallen 40 per cent.
“Most of the AI models gave the same answers. Once I asked specifically for commonalities among the already invested companies is when it started mentioning specific industries it viewed as dominated by China and started citing graphite as one of the biggest ones,” Hansen said.
Brian Laks, partner and portfolio manager at Old West Investment Management told the agency he expects seabed mining firms like TMC The Metals Company Inc. and Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc. may attract White House attention. Notably, Old West invested in MP Materials, Lithium Americas and Trilogy Metals before the US government took stakes, “expecting there would be a premium put on supplies of critical minerals outside of China”, Laks said.
(With inputs from Bloomberg)
Key Takeaways
- Investors are increasingly using government investment patterns as indicators for stock purchases.
- Political relationships are becoming essential in evaluating companies’ market potential.
- Strategic industries, particularly those related to national security, are likely to see increased government interest, feel those tracking the field.