Donald Trump Sold All Stockholdings in June, Spokesman Says

President-elect Donald Trump sold all of his shares in more than 100 companies in June, a transition team spokesperson said Tuesday — a move that may have created a cash influx for a costly campaign and later eased some of his potential conflicts of interest as he moves into the White House.

The surprising fact came from Trump spokesman Jason Miller during a phone call with reporters when he was asked about the New York businessman's shares in Boeing Co. following comments from the president-elect in which he criticized the company earlier in the day.

“The president-elect sold all of his stock back in June,” Miller said, later clarifying that he was referring to all of Trump's stock and not just Boeing.

Early Tuesday morning, Trump admonished Boeing on Twitter for what he suggested mounted to price gouging for the next Air Force One: "Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!"

However, in January 2013, Trump boasted on Twitter that he bought stock in the company at the right time, posting, "Boeing stock went way down because of 787- so i just bought stock in Boeing- great company!"

According to filings with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics in May, Trump reported owning between $50,000 and $100,000 of Boeing stock.

The May filing also showed that Trump had approximately 150 separate corporate stock and bond investments that included Amazon and Apple, among others, to an estimated total value of $40 million as of December 2015. Miller did not say why or for how much Trump sold his stocks.

However, as The Washington Post reported, the June sale coincided with a period in which Trump was filling his presidential campaign coffers with his own money as he prepared to take on Hillary Clinton in the general election. By Election Day, Trump gave his campaign $66 million, according to federal filings, but it still fell short of the $100 million of his own money he claimed he would spend.

Selling his stocks could alleviate some of the concerns about potential conflicts of interest between his businesses around the world and his role as the country's chief executive, but more questions remain to be answered about the Trump Organization.

Last month, Trump said that he will leave his "great business in total" to focus on the presidency and has planned a Dec. 15 press conference to explain how that will be done. He is expected to turn over operations of his businesses to his children, though he hasn't provided details yet.

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr Commons