OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — Lamar Jackson was absent from a voluntary practice for the Baltimore Ravens, and that usually raises eyebrows.
New coach Jesse Minter didn't seem to be sweating it.
“Lamar’s been one of our leaders of the offseason program, and he had a couple things going on yesterday and today, and I do expect him to be back soon," said Minter, who replaced John Harbaugh after last season. "We’ve had some great conversations. I know when he’s going to be back and again, I’ll probably leave those between me and Lamar.”
Jackson's attendance at these types of OTAs has been sporadic over the years. It's hard to say how much that matters, but it's certainly an issue critics have pointed to from time to time. His contract, with two years remaining, has also been a significant topic lately after he and the Ravens did not agree to an extension before the start of free agency. Baltimore instead restructured Jackson's deal to create cap space.
Jackson was at Minter's first minicamp with the Ravens last month.
That camp wasn't open to reporters, but Tuesday's OTA was, and it offered a chance to see how the new coach handled practice on a hot day in Owings Mills. At the end, the team took part in a little game in which players from the offense and defense competed at throwing medicine balls.
Minter said that's part of preparing the team to play well in the most important moments, something the Ravens have struggled with the past few years.
“We end practice every day (with an) ‘At our best when our best is needed’ period, and so that could be anything different. Today, we decided to do a little friendly competition,” Minter said. “Right now, you can’t really do the football competition, and so I thought it would be something different, something fun. I try to get guys to not know what’s about to happen and answer the bell when their number’s called, and it’s as simple as that. That’s really all we’re trying to get done with that and make it fun, have the guys pull for each other.”
Earlier, there was a scary moment when running back Derrick Henry banged knees with another player and stayed down on the ground for a bit. He was able to resume practicing shortly thereafter.
“The ground felt like a bed for a little while,” he said. "And I saw you all (reporters) looking hot and bored, so I was like, ‘I need to give them something to tweet and write about.’”
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Baltimore Ravens head coach Jesse Minter speaks during a press conference after the NFL football team's practice, Tuesday, May 19, 2026, at the Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills, Md. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
NEW YORK (AP) — Call him the Trader in Chief.
Recent presidents have stayed away from trading stocks in companies whose fortunes they could lift or scuttle with the stroke of a pen, but Donald Trump smashed that precedent in the first quarter of this year with more than 3,600 buy and sell orders, many of them involving companies whose profits have been directly impacted by his decisions as head of the government.
Among the Trump trades in a recent report filed with a federal ethics agency was as much as $6 million in Nvidia, whose advanced chips Trump approved for sale to China last year. His portfolio also scooped up stocks of several U.S. military suppliers impacted by the Iran war, including Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman.
“If he were defense secretary, he would be committing a crime,” said Richard Painter, the chief White House ethics adviser in the George W. Bush administration and a big critic of congressional trading, too. “Technically he can do this, but it is a fundamental breach of trust.”
U.S. law bans federal employees from holding financial assets that could be impacted by their policy work, but there is a carveout for the president.
A spokesperson for the Trump family business said the president's portfolio is handled by third parties that have “sole and exclusive” authority to make investment decisions.
“Neither President Trump, his family, nor The Trump Organization plays any role in selecting, directing, or approving specific investments,” spokesperson Kimberly Benza said in a statement. “They receive no advance notice of trading activity and provide no input regarding investment decisions or portfolio management."
Ethics officials have pointed out that just the knowledge of what's in his portfolio is problematic because it could impact the president's decisions on everything from health policy to government contracting to war.
The stock trading report filed with the federal Office of Government Ethics runs more than 100 pages, and shows possibly more than $100 million changing hands over three months as stocks were bought and sold at rapid fire pace — an average of 50 trades every day markets were open.
The report shows more purchases than sales, but the precise ratio is impossible to determine because exact figures for each transaction are not given, just ranges.
Trump has traditionally had very little invested in the stock market relative to his net worth, but that could be changing along with his ballooning wealth, which has included a big cash infusion.
Since he became president again, the Trump Organization has taken in tens of millions in upfront fees from overseas developers that want to put his name on resorts and hundreds of millions from cryptocurrency sales, mostly anonymous, making it impossible to know if the purchaser were trying to curry favor with the president.
All recent U.S. presidents have dumped their stocks before assuming office, put their money in broadly diversified funds or set up a “blind” trust so they couldn’t even know what they owned.
The blind trust route was taken by George H.W. Bush, then Bill Clinton. George W. Bush, the son, dumped his stocks. Barack Obama was in broadly diversified mutual funds. Joe Biden didn't trade.
In addition to Nvidia, the president's portfolio includes shares in Apple, Boeing and Tesla. The CEOs of all four companies accompanied Trump on his visit to China recently.
The portfolio also includes Intel, the chipmaker in which the government took a 10% stake last year.
Among many others, the portfolio of the fast-food loving president recently added stock in Shake Shack, Papa John's and Cheesecake Factory.
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One, Friday, May 15, 2026, as he returns from a trip to Beijing, China. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
U.S. President Donald Trump looks on next to, from bottom right, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, top right, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Apple CEO Tim Cook, top left, and others during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Thursday, May 14, 2026. (Maxim Shemetov/Pool Photo via AP)
