Donald Trump Buys SpaceX Debt Before New Space Policy

President Donald Trump purchased between $1 million and $5 million in debt issued by Space Exploration Technologies Corp. shortly before the White House announced a new space-travel policy. The policy seeks to strengthen space transportation to support more than 1,000 annual launches and re-entries by 2030.

SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, issued the bonds to fund the development of Starship, Starlink, and AI data centers for its subsidiary, xAI. The transaction follows a period of renewed cooperation between Trump and Musk, who recently received the National Medal of Science from the president.

White House spokesman Davis Ingle defended the investment, stating that the president's portfolio is independently managed through computer-based model portfolios. While Ingle denied any conflicts of interest, a financial adviser noted that purchasing individual bonds to track an index is an unusual practice.