Less than two weeks after Trump's purchase, ICE dumps a $220 million block! Trump faces another conflict of interest controversy

A stock investment by US President Trump has once again sparked external discussion on presidential conflicts of interest.

According to federal financial disclosure documents released in May this year, Trump purchased $1 million to $5 million worth of Axon Enterprise stock on February 10. This company is the largest US supplier of Taser guns, police body cameras, and law enforcement software. Just two weeks later, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a procurement notice planning to purchase about 17,800 new Taser guns and related supporting equipment over the next five years, with a total value of about $220 million.

Although there is currently no evidence that Trump participated in the procurement process, nor evidence that ICE procurement personnel or Axon were aware of Trump's holdings in the company, the timing of the transaction has still drawn the attention of ethics experts.

White House: No Conflict of Interest

In response to outside doubts, the White House stated that Trump's assets are currently held by a trust managed by his children, and specific investments are handled by an independent third-party agency, not directly managed by Trump himself or his family.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said: "There is no conflict of interest." She also described the related doubts as the Democrats’ "tired old narrative" repeatedly hyped up.

According to US law, the president is not subject to the criminal conflict-of-interest laws that apply to most federal executive officials, so it is not itself illegal for the president to hold shares in public companies.

ICE Procurement Almost "Tailor-Made" for Axon Products?

Although ICE’s procurement documents did not name Axon directly, the requirements raised eyebrows in the industry.

The notice requires the procurement of "Conductive-Energy Weapons," explicitly requesting a range of about 45 feet, the ability to simultaneously fire 10 independent probes, and an upgrade of the existing T10 system to replace outdated X26P and X2 models.

Several procurement and law enforcement experts told CNBC that these technical parameters almost entirely match the latest generation of Axon's Taser 10 product, virtually ruling out other competitors from bidding. If a contract is signed, ICE's current inventory of about 4,300 Tasers will expand to more than 18,000 units, over four times the current quantity.

However, the procurement is still in the "Request for Information" phase and has not yet been formally awarded.

Ethics Experts: No Evidence of Illegality, but a "Perception of Conflict of Interest"

Several government ethics experts emphasize that there is currently no evidence that Trump has acted illegally.

But they believe that a president buying shares in a public company that could directly benefit from government policy easily triggers public concerns about conflicts of interest.

Jordan Libowitz, vice president of the US government watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), stated: "The problem isn’t that wrongdoing has already been proven, but that the president invested in a company that could benefit from his administration’s expansion of immigration enforcement."

Deborah Fleischaker, who previously served as acting chief of staff for ICE under the Biden administration, also noted that ICE does need to update law enforcement equipment, but from the perspective of avoiding conflicts of interest, she "would never buy stock in a company that could be directly affected by her own decisions."

Axon Does More Than Sell Tasers

Analysts point out that the real value of this potential contract goes far beyond weapons sales themselves.

In recent years, Axon has steadily transformed from a stun gun manufacturer into a law enforcement technology platform, with business covering body cameras, cloud-based evidence management systems (Axon Evidence), AI analysis tools, drones, real-time command platforms, and Fusus real-time monitoring systems.

Industry insiders say that once the government procures Taser guns, they typically also purchase cloud storage, evidence management, and artificial intelligence software, forming long-term, high-margin software subscription revenues.

Currently, Axon holds a $370 million Department of Homeland Security (DHS) body camera and software contract, of which about $67.5 million has already been implemented.

Company management recently made it clear that federal government business is becoming an important growth driver for the future. In the first quarter of this year, Axon achieved revenue of $807 million, up 34% year-on-year, continuously setting new records. Management said the company is expanding its federal business team and expects 2026 could be a "bumper year for federal business."

Stock Price Upside Is Evident

As for market performance, since Trump bought Axon shares, as of the close on June 26, the company's stock price has cumulatively risen about 7%. If Trump’s actual purchase amount is near the upper limit of the disclosed range, his paper profit could be about $350,000.

It is worth noting that in the week after ICE released its procurement announcement, Axon's share price soared by more than 34%, showing the market’s general optimism about the company’s prospects with expanding federal law enforcement spending.

However, there is still no evidence that Trump had advance knowledge of the procurement plan, nor evidence that Axon or ICE were aware of his shareholding. As the procurement process has yet to conclude, the debate over the relationship between presidential investments and government procurement is expected to continue to ferment.