President Donald Trump has gone on a bond buying spree since taking office, reportedly sinking more than $100 million into debt issued by big companies and municipal governments alike.
The White House did not immediately return Fortune‘s request for comment.
Trump’s bond buying binge stands out because he, unlike other presidents, has not put his investments into a true blind trust. Otherwise, Trump’s bond purchases, whether directed by him or the person in charge of his finances, look like the typical bet of a deep-pocketed investor—one who thinks interest rates are set to fall, said Russell Rhoads, an associate clinical professor of financial management at Indiana University.
Because bond prices typically rise when interest rates fall, it’s possible Trump made the bets hoping he could later sell the bonds at a profit. Rates are likely to drop faster for corporate bonds than for government bonds because they are riskier, said Rhoads. Trump’s insistent pressure for the Fed to cut rates could also be akin to him “talking his book,” added Rhoads.
“You could take the way that he’s been pushing so hard for the Fed to cut rates as like a portfolio manager going on CNBC and talking positive about a stock that’s a big holding of theirs to try to get other people to buy it,” Rhoads told Fortune.
Trump’s purchase of municipal bonds, issued by state and local governments, could also be part of the investment strategy, because the interest they yield is generally exempt from federal income taxes. A bond from an investor’s home state will generally be exempt from state taxes. With the stock market near all-time-highs, a preference for bonds could be wise.
“It’s just a logical portfolio management move, as opposed to, you know, something that he knows something about rates that the rest of us don’t know,” said Rhoads.
