President Donald Trump purchased between $1 million and $5 million in Axon Enterprise stock on Feb. 10, disclosed in May. Two weeks later, on Feb. 24, Immigration and Customs Enforcement posted a notice seeking a five-year, $220 million contract for roughly 17,800 Tasers. Procurement experts told CNBC the notice appeared tailored to Axon, which makes about 90% of U.S. Tasers. The White House stated Trump's assets are held in a trust managed by his children and that investments are overseen by independent third-party firms, adding there are no conflicts of interest. Under federal law, presidents are exempt from the criminal conflict-of-interest statute that applies to most executive branch officials. There is no evidence Trump was involved in or had knowledge of the procurement process, that contracting officials knew of his stock purchase, or that Axon knew Trump was a shareholder.
ICE Posts $220 Million Taser Contract Notice on Feb. 24
On Feb. 24, ICE posted a notice seeking roughly 17,800 new Tasers, along with unlimited cartridges and training, over five years for approximately $220 million. The notice does not name Axon but calls for "conductive-energy weapons" with specifications that procurement reviewers and three policing experts told CNBC appeared to match only Axon products. The notice refers to an upgrade to the "T10" — Axon's "TASER 10" model — to replace ICE's older "X26P/X2 Tasers," which are also Axon-made. It specifies features associated with "TASER 10," including a 45-foot range and 10 individually targeted probes. If finalized, the purchase would more than quadruple ICE's current Taser arsenal, replacing about 4,300 devices in the field, according to the February notice. Federal procurement records show no contract has been awarded yet. Because the notice was a "Request For Information" rather than a formal solicitation, there is no public record showing which vendors, if any, responded. Axon did not respond to requests for comment on whether it discussed the potential Taser purchase with ICE, DHS, or White House officials before ICE posted the Feb. 24 notice.
White House and Ethics Experts Respond to Stock Purchase Timing
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told CNBC there are no conflicts of interest, calling the scrutiny a "tired narrative" pushed by Democrats. Trump's disclosures with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, made public May 14, show more than 3,700 transactions, with the total amount for each listed as a range rather than an exact figure. The timing of the notice raises questions for ethics experts in part because of its proximity to Trump's stock purchase. Trump's Feb. 10 purchase occurred weeks after federal agents in Minneapolis shot and killed two U.S. citizens who were protesting an immigration crackdown in the city. "It is not smart to buy stock in a company that was impacted by the decisions you would be making at the agency," said Deborah Fleischaker, a former acting chief of staff at ICE during the Biden administration and now a senior advisor for immigration policy and strategy at UnidosUS. "I would have stayed far, far away from actual impropriety, or the appearance of impropriety." Jordan Libowitz, vice president of communications at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told CNBC, "The concern is that [Trump] bought into a company whose business could grow if his own administration expands immigration enforcement." Axon shares rose more than 22% in the month after Trump's purchase, before paring those gains. As of the June 26 close, the stock was up about 7% from his purchase date. If Trump bought near the top amount of the disclosed range, the potential paper gain could be worth roughly $350,000 as of market close on June 26. In the week following ICE's notice for seeking a contract, the company's stock rose more than 34%.
Axon Reports Record Revenue and Expands Federal Team
Axon reported its two highest-revenue quarters on record: $796.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2025, up 39% from a year earlier, and $807.3 million in the first quarter of 2026, up 34%, fueled by Taser sales and fast-growing AI products. Axon executives told investors in February that DHS contracts are a "major opportunity." On a May 6 earnings call, Axon President Joshua Isner said the company had "rebuilt a large portion" of its federal team and hired Claudia Davidson from Palantir, where she spent more than seven years helping expand the data-mining and defense contractor's business with federal agencies. "We're seeing renewed interest in body cameras and Tasers in federal law enforcement," Isner told investors, adding that Axon's federal business was "trending very much in the right direction" and that, "with a few things going our way, it could be a banner year in Fed." Axon already has a $370 million DHS body-camera and software contract awarded in 2023, though only about $67.5 million has been obligated so far, according to HigherGov, a government market-intelligence platform that tracks federal contracts and grants. The roughly $35 billion company's biggest growth engine is the policing infrastructure that can follow weapons purchases: cloud storage, evidence-management systems, body cameras, real-time operations tools, and AI products. "If Trump expands ICE, Axon could be selling the infrastructure behind the crackdown," said Matthew Guariglia, a senior policy analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation focused on policing surveillance. "It can sell the cameras, cloud storage, software and AI tools that come with a bigger federal enforcement machine."
Axon Increases Lobbying Spending to $2.5 Million in 2025
Axon spent nearly $2.5 million lobbying last year, its highest annual total, according to OpenSecrets, a nonprofit organization that tracks political spending. Its targets included legislation and regulation around body cameras, counter-drone technology, digital evidence management, and other law-enforcement products it is pushing into federal agencies. Congress has proposed a $20 million line item in DHS appropriations requiring the agency to outfit immigration enforcement agents with body cameras, partly as a result of heavy lobbying by Axon, policing experts say. Sens. Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly, both Arizona Democrats, introduced legislation requiring all DHS officers to wear body cameras. The legislation has no Republican support, making it unlikely to advance in the Republican-controlled Senate. Donors connected to Scottsdale, Arizona-based Axon donated over $20,000 to Gallego during the 2024 election cycle when he ran for the Senate, according to OpenSecrets. Gallego and Kelly, who have publicly championed body-camera and use-of-force requirements for ICE, did not respond to requests for comment on Axon's position as a likely beneficiary of body-camera mandates. The Nathan Cummings Foundation sued Axon in January to stop the company from excluding a shareholder proposal seeking more disclosure around its political spending. The lawsuit settled March 9. "Since Trump came into office, Axon has spent enormous amounts of money in politics to curry favor and support contracts and laws that benefit the company," Richard Kirby, a former SEC attorney who represented the foundation in its lawsuit against Axon, told CNBC. "That is exactly why investors need transparency."
FAQ
What did President Trump purchase on Feb. 10?
President Donald Trump purchased between $1 million and $5 million in Axon Enterprise stock on Feb. 10, according to federal disclosures filed in May. The White House stated his assets are held in a trust managed by his children and that investments are overseen by independent third-party firms.
Why did ICE post a $220 million Taser contract notice?
On Feb. 24, ICE posted a notice seeking roughly 17,800 new Tasers, along with unlimited cartridges and training, over five years. The notice appeared two weeks after Trump's stock purchase. Procurement experts told CNBC the specifications appeared tailored to Axon, which makes about 90% of U.S. Tasers. If finalized, the purchase would more than quadruple ICE's current Taser arsenal.
How much did Axon spend on lobbying in 2025?
Axon spent nearly $2.5 million lobbying in 2025, its highest annual total, according to OpenSecrets. Its targets included legislation and regulation around body cameras, counter-drone technology, digital evidence management, and other law-enforcement products it is pushing into federal agencies.
