Billionaire Trump donor gains tens of millions in one-day Ambler windfall

Billionaire John Paulson may have gained more than any other single person when Donald Trump announced plans to subsidize Trilogy Metals with $35.6 million in public money this week.

Paulson’s Trilogy shares, which had been worth about $30 million, were suddenly worth nearly $100 million as the stock skyrocketed. The stock was up 211 percent at the time of Tueday’s close.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum made the announcement at 4:18 p.m. Monday on the East Coast about the federal Trilogy subsidy.

On Monday, before the Trump decision was announced, Trilogy saw a massive increase in daily trading volume to 42 million shares, up from 763,000 last Friday.

The jump in trading volume should make everyone question whether there was insider trading in advance of this announcement.

Trilogy Metals had been selling at a little more than $2 a share before Trump’s announcement that the Department of Defense would by buying 10 percent of the company.

The stock, which was selling at 37 cents in April 2024, was trading at $6.50 a share Tuesday night. Paulson owns 8.7 percent of the company.

Forbes Magazine noted that the Trump administration mentioned nothing about how one of Trump’s most loyal allies would gain from the federal subsidy of Trilogy.

“Paulson, who founded the hedge fund Paulson & Co. in 1994 and now runs it as a family office, was one of Trump’s earliest supporters on Wall Street, joining his economic policy team during his first presidential campaign in 2016. In April 2024, he hosted a fundraiser at his Palm Beach home for Trump that raised $50.5 million, and he was rumored to be under consideration to be the Treasury Secretary during last year’s transition before Trump ultimately picked Scott Bessent,” Forbes said.

“It’s not the first time Trump’s government has moved the market by investing directly in stocks this year—it has taken stakes in Intel, MP Materials and Lithium Americas, and is rumored to be in discussions with other miners. All of their shares leaped higher on the news, but none as significantly as Trilogy, the smallest company of the group,” Forbes said.

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