Posted on 05/30/2026 9:13:55 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
In what could be viewed as the most brazen conflict-of-interest issue in President Trump’s second term, the Pentagon just awarded Dell Technologies a $9.7 billion contract to manage Microsoft software across the entire U.S. military.
Trump bought Dell stock just months earlier, publicly urged Americans to buy Dell computers weeks before the announcement, and received a $6.25 billion pledge from the Dell family. That’s the conflict part.
All the company needed to do was fund Trump Accounts, the new tax-advantaged savings vehicles created by the Administration, with $6.25 billion. And Michael Dell conveniently sits on the President's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology.
The arrangement is called the Core Enterprise Technology Agreement. It’s expected to save the department approximately $422 million annually by consolidating fragmented technology budgets, according to the Pentagon.
Government disclosure data shows that on February 10, Trump's portfolio acquired Dell stock valued between $1 million and $5 million. Nine days later, at a rally in Georgia, he told supporters to "go out and buy a Dell computer," breaking with centuries of Presidential decorum. Three additional purchases of Dell stock followed in March.
On May 8, the president publicly praised the Dell family at a White House event. Dell stock rose roughly 12% that same day. Less than three weeks later, the Pentagon contract was announced. Dell's shares surged around 5% in pre-market trading following the announcement, closing the prior session at around $305.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
Normal in our nation’s capital. Legal. Not fraud. Not insider trading. Done every day. It’s only illegal when we do it.
Are they trying to claim Dell isn’t up to the task like Big Mike’s college friend who got a HUGE contract to handle - I think it was Obamacare - and was an utter failure?
That is one massive project. There are a handful of vendors who could do it. I don’t know if Microsoft itself does that sort of thing, or if they would want to if given a chance. I would assume they don’t. IBM has been distancing itself from Microsoft. Just as well, IBM gets burned every time. Dell freed up money by spinning off VMware to a fund that is going to ruin it, to Microsoft’s HyperV advantage. That leaves HPE among U.S. based companies. Between the two, I’d go with Dell. More balanced support. More dynamic company.
It’s not like the contract went to Stacy Abrams pall with a new start-up or something.
Gov’t contractor for 39 years.
Dell computers, exclusively. No complaints, they held up.
Have five Dell refurbs here, oldest about 7 years.
They don’t have microsoft in them - I threw that crap out. Reloaded one with Linux Mint, four with FreeBSD. They run 24/7.
Replaced one hard drive, otherwise no problems with them.
I thought Presidents’ investment accounts couldn’t be direct controlled by the President during his tenure and had to be managed by an FA?
If it were Biden the deal would be with Ching Chong Trading Company, Shangahi, PRC.
You are completely correct about this. According to financial disclosures and official statements from the White House and the Trump Organization, President Trump’s stock portfolio is held within a trust and managed by independent, third-party financial institutions.
This is just more sh*t being thrown by the Democrats and their monkeys in the media.
Dell pledged billions for the children’s annuity fund and Trump said to support them for that.
What “children’s annuity fund” ?
The Trump children? Please say it’s not so.
Not Trump’s children. The fund established for children now being born.
A blind trust is normally set up before the president’s term begins. Interestingly, this was not done for Clinton. The lawyer who was working on it was Vince Foster, who didn’t make it out of Fort Marcy Park alive.
I have an Asus laptop from Costco in 2015. The CPU didn't meet Windows 11 requirements, so it now runs Fedora 44. Not a bad reuse for an i7 with 16 GB RAM and 512 GB NVMe disk.
My run as a government contractor ended after 33 1/2 years. I had 11 1/2 at Pacific Telephone/PacBell before that time. The 3 1/2 years before PacBell was at Marine Electric Company doing radio/radar/sonar/fax/pa/phones/satnav on tuna boats, work boats, sport fishers, US Navy subs and related base stations. Good hands-on electronics work.
I recently bought a new Dell laptop, which I’m typing this on. It was the first time in my life I didn’t buy HP. I have upwards of 7 or 8 old HP laptops, and both laser printers (one B/W, one color) are HP. It was hard thing to break my HP loyalty, but HP’s laptop quality has fallen off a cliff and Dell offered more laptop for less money.
Not a dell fan.
Hp or Oracle for servers, Lenovo or msft for laptops.
I am currently using a vintage Surface 2 RT device.
*Lenovo makes good OEM ocp boards
**Microsoft makes nice azure blades but I hate them cause their bmc is locked down
Gee, folks, let’s not forget that CORRELATION IS NOT CAUSATION. Dell is a perfectly capable computer contractor and has been so well before Trump.
Just sayin’.
Federal Contracting Officers (COs) make the final legal decisions on who wins federal government contracts. While end-user agencies determine what they need and Congress provides the funding, the CO is the only authorized government agent who can officially sign a contract and obligate federal funds. The president has nothing to do with it so he can’t be involved with insider trading or hiring of the companies involved.
Dell began making significant inroads into the federal government in the mid-1990s. By 1996, Dell Federal Systems had expanded enough to become a top supplier of PCs to the federal government, commanding a 20% market share and rapidly expanding its presence across dozens of agencies. That’s almost 20 years ahead of Trump becoming POTUS the first time.
wy69
Federal Contracting Officers (COs) make the final legal decisions on who wins federal government contracts. While end-user agencies determine what they need and Congress provides the funding, the CO is the only authorized government agent who can officially sign a contract and obligate federal funds. The president has nothing to do with it so he can’t be involved with insider trading or hiring of the companies involved.
Dell began making significant inroads into the federal government in the mid-1990s. By 1996, Dell Federal Systems had expanded enough to become a top supplier of PCs to the federal government, commanding a 20% market share and rapidly expanding its presence across dozens of agencies. That’s almost 20 years ahead of Trump becoming POTUS the first time. And a sitting president cannot own stock as he forfeits all income and worth prior to swearing in. So he didn’t buy it.
wy69
Methinks Srividya has a mighty bog scimitar to grind...
Did Dell win this contract in an open bid? Article doesn’t say...I would assume so.
He mentions that “Trump” made x number of trades...well, no, the Trust made x number of trades.
GTFO, Srividya...
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