US Trump claims "stocks are at their strongest quarter under my presidency," 401(k) also hits a new high.

U.S. President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social on July 2, claiming that his economy is taking off, with the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow all posting their best quarters since he took office, making Americans' 401(k) retirement accounts more valuable. He also singled out the "Working Families Tax Cut Act" for deepening the pockets of salaried families, narrowing the trade deficit, and declaring that the American Golden Age has begun.

(Background: Inside Trump's 2025 Stunning Finances: Crypto Earns $1.4 Billion Annually, Surpassing Real Estate Core Business)
(Background Supplement: The $14 Trillion Retirement Account Now Has a Bitcoin Option)

Table of Contents

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• Best Quarter for the Stock Market
• But Whose Pockets Did the Money Flow Into?
• Trump's Own Retirement Fund Is Crypto

Key Takeaways

• U.S. stocks had their best quarter since 2020 in Q2 2026, with the S&P 500 up 9.6% and the Russell 2000 surging nearly 22%.
• Trump's financial disclosures show his crypto gains alone exceeded $1.4 billion, surpassing his real estate core business.
• A Gallup survey shows only 58% of Americans owned stocks in April 2026, down from 62% a year earlier.

On the eve of Independence Day, Trump chose to boast about his achievements on Truth Social, describing the Q2 2026 U.S. stock market performance as the best since he re-entered the White House, and saying 401(k) retirement accounts are "getting more valuable." This statement sounds like it's meant to reassure every working person, but when you look at the data, more than half of the gains flowed into the pockets of the richest 1%.

Best Quarter for the Stock Market

Trump was indeed not exaggerating this time. Q2 2026 was the best quarter for U.S. stocks since the pandemic in 2020. The S&P 500 rose about 9.6% for the quarter, the Nasdaq Composite Index rose about 13%, the small-cap Russell 2000 Index surged nearly 22%—its best first-half performance since 1991—and the Dow Jones Industrial Average also posted its largest quarterly gain since 2022. In an interview with CNBC anchor Joe Kernen on July 2, Trump personally branded this rally as the "Golden Age" he has talked about.

"The 401(k) is at levels never seen before, up 80%, 90%. The stock market is at an all-time high. We are in the Golden Age." – Trump's original quote from his CNBC interview with Joe Kernen

As for the narrowing trade deficit he mentioned, the numbers are indeed contracting. In the first two months of 2026, exports increased by $62.6 billion year-over-year, up 11.3%, while imports decreased by $73.5 billion, down 9.2%. However, the Tax Foundation pointed out that tariffs have not actually changed the structure of the overall trade deficit. The narrowing deficit mainly came from an expanding surplus in services trade, while the goods trade deficit actually increased by $25.5 billion year-over-year.

But Whose Pockets Did the Money Flow Into?

The problem is: whose accounts did these gains actually flow into? According to Inequality.org and Federal Reserve data, the richest 1% of Americans hold nearly 50% of all U.S. stocks, worth about $27.6 trillion; the top 10% hold 87% of wealth, about $48 trillion; the bottom 50% of Americans hold only 1% of stocks combined, about $590 billion. If the S&P 500 rises 20% in a year, the top 1% roughly captures half of the dollar gains.

A Gallup survey further shows that only 58% of Americans owned stocks in April 2026, down from 62% a year earlier—the first decline since 2016. In other words, more than 40% of Americans have no stake in Trump's supposedly "increasingly valuable" 401(k). CNBC directly pointed out the contradiction: Trump says everyone is making money, but the gains mainly went into the pockets of the richest 1%.

Trump's Own Retirement Fund Is Crypto

The most intriguing part is actually hidden in Trump's own financial disclosures. According to the latest filing, Trump's crypto-related gains alone exceeded $1.4 billion, surpassing his long-established real estate core business.

Breaking it down: Meme coin venture CIC Digital brought in over $635 million in licensing fees; the Trump family-backed World Liberty Financial (WLFI) token sales generated over $550 million in revenue, nine times the $57 million in 2024; stablecoin ventures (held through DT Marks SC with a 38.5% stake in Stablecoin Holdco) brought in nearly $197 million; selling a 49% stake in WLFI netted nearly $263 million.

In other words, Trump's own fattest retirement account has long ceased to be the stock market; it's crypto. His personally issued meme coin, TRUMP, once surged to a market cap of $15 billion, but is now worth only about $400 million—a decline of 97%. Most of the retail investors who bought in are left with losses.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Trump's claim about the 401(k) surging true?

Q2 2026 was the best quarter for U.S. stocks since 2020, with the S&P 500 up 9.6% and the Russell 2000 surging nearly 22%. However, most of the gains flowed into the pockets of the top 1%, and the Gallup survey shows the proportion of Americans owning stocks actually declined.

How much money did Trump make from crypto himself?

According to the latest financial disclosures, Trump's crypto gains alone exceeded $1.4 billion, surpassing his real estate core business. However, the market cap of his TRUMP meme coin has fallen from $15 billion to about $400 million.