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President Donald Trump has long bantered about GLP-1s, the breakthrough medicines that have changed care for diabetes and obesity. Sometimes he calls them \u201cthe fat drug.\u201d In an interview with the The New York Times<\/a> in January, he mused that \u201cI probably should\u201d take them.<\/p>\n A few days before the Times published that story, Trump invested in Eli Lilly, the nearly $1 trillion drugmaker whose fortunes are closely tied to its blockbuster GLP-1s, Zepbound and Foundayo \u2014 and to government reimbursement for the medicines.<\/p>\n This week we reported on<\/a> several Lilly stock purchases made by Trump or his brokers from January to March, totaling as much as $680,000, according to a disclosure signed by the president. He also purchased stock worth $250,000 to $500,000 in West Pharmaceutical Services, a company that manufactures devices for injectable drugs. It, too, is benefiting from the GLP-1 surge.\u00a0<\/p>\n As the purchases occurred, the Trump administration was undertaking an agenda that boosted the GLP-1 market, including advancing Medicare reimbursement for the drugs to treat obesity, a long-held goal for Lilly. The deadline for drug manufacturers to get involved in a reimbursement project was Jan. 8.\u00a0<\/p>\n The administration also intensified a crackdown on \u201ccompounded\u201d GLP-1s \u2014 cheaper, copycat medications made by pharmacies that critics (and brand-name drugmakers) claim are unsafe. That knocked out competitors to Lilly\u2019s products. Trump\u2019s FDA also rapidly approved Lilly\u2019s GLP-1 pill, Foundayo.\u00a0<\/p>\n The timing of the Lilly purchases \u2014 among more than 3,600 trades Trump or his representatives made in the first quarter of the year \u2014 troubled government ethics experts.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cA president who buys or sells the stock of a company whose value is affected by his administration\u2019s actions undermines the public\u2019s trust in two ways,\u201d said Kathleen Clark, a legal ethicist at Washington University in St. Louis.<\/p>\n First, she said, the public should believe government actions are motivated by common good, not personal enrichment. Second, the public should believe that those within government aren\u2019t benefiting from inside information.<\/p>\n The disclosures have also intensified criticism from Trump opponents who say he\u2019s trying to profit from the presidency.<\/p>\n Congressional Democrats are calling for legislative action. \u201cTrump is the ultimate con man \u2014 rig the game, manipulate the rules, and reap the benefits,\u201d Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) said on X<\/a>, highlighting our report. \u201cIt\u2019s long past time we ban presidents from owning and trading stocks.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Democrats might have their shot at a bill in 2027. Public opinion is increasingly swinging in their direction, and taking both chambers of Congress is a possibility. (Of course, even if Democrats claimed those majorities and passed a bill, it would have to be signed by Trump.) If they were determined to pursue anti-corruption measures relating to health issues, they would have targets beyond Trump\u2019s stock trading. Democrats have also questioned corporate contributors\u2019 influence on changes in FDA tobacco regulation, for example.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\tEmail Sign-Up\t\t\t\t<\/h4>\n