Trump bought up to $175,000 worth of Cheesecake Factory stock last year: report

President Donald Trump on Monday appeared furious with his predecessor Barack Obama, who mocked him at a midterm rally Saturday for making the White House look like Saddam Hussein had opened a cheesecake factory, and new reports may explain why.

The Daily Beast cited financial disclosures Thursday in reporting that Trump bought $175,000 worth of stock in the restaurant last year, when he launched gaudy gold-themed redecorations of the Oval Office and development of his expensive new ballroom at the White House.

Obama threw the MAGA world into meltdown with a simple mockery of Trump’s vanity projects, telling a packed crowd in Cleveland at a Democratic rally in Ohio: “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he seems very focused on renovating the house.”

“And there’s gold everywhere!” » Obama added. “What’s up with the gold? Everything, more gold! He makes the White House look like Saddam Hussein opened a cheesecake factory. Just gold everywhere! So he’s clearly not focused on lowering prices for you.”

The MAGA leader seemed more upset by Obama’s mention of The Cheesecake Factory.

Trump told reporters Monday that “only a stupid person” and a “bad president” would run the United States the way Obama did, telling a rally in Mississippi that the Cheesecake Factory was “a very successful business” before defending his extensive White House renovations.

“I would try to explain this to a guy like Obama, but he wouldn’t understand,” Trump said.

Trump ultimately purchased between $1,001 and $15,000 worth of stock in the casual dining chain just days after returning to office three times in January and February 2025, according to financial disclosures reviewed by The Daily Beast.

Trump bought shares again in March and April 2025 between $15,001 and $50,000, and another round between $1,001 and $15,000 in April 2025. He sold between $15,001 and $50,000 worth of shares in May and reportedly unloaded a similar amount last November.

Trump has frequently praised companies in which he has a financial stake, including Nvidia.

White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told HuffPost in a statement Wednesday that all of Trump’s investments, including those of his immediate family members, were impeccable and “independently managed by third-party financial institutions.”

“Neither President Trump nor any member of his family has the ability to direct, influence or provide input on how the portfolio is invested or when investments are bought or sold,” Ingle said. “All investment decisions are made entirely by independent managers.”

He continued: “There are no conflicts of interest. »

Trump has accumulated enormous wealth since returning to power in 2025. He has also frequently dismissed the nation’s affordability crisis, which has been severely exacerbated by his costly ongoing war with Iran, as a “scam” concocted by Democrats.

Trump still owned up to $50,000 worth of Cheesecake Factory stock on December 31, 2025.