President-elect Donald Trump speaking at a meeting with the House GOP conference on Nov. 13.

“I HAVE NO INTENTION OF SELLING!” Donald Trump posted on Nov. 8 on Truth Social, three days after he swept all seven swing states on his way to a popular vote victory and a second term in the White House. Calling for investigations into “fake, untrue, and probably illegal” suggestions that he may sell some or all of his 114,750,000 shares of Trump Media and Technology Group (which owns Truth Social), he expressed his confidence in the platform, which reported losing some $19 million last quarter: “Truth is an important part of our historic win, and I deeply believe in it.”

That approach isn’t a surprise—it aligns with Trump’s refusal to divest from his businesses during his first term. But that could be a big mistake, especially given that there is a clear path for him to unload his shares that would allow him to quiet ethics concerns, diversify his net worth away from one volatile stock and avoid a massive capital gains tax bill, saving him hundreds of millions of dollars. All he’d need to do is secure a certificate of divestiture, a routine document for incoming executive branch officials.

When presidential appointees come into government from the private sector, they often have stock holdings or other assets that they are legally required to sell to comply with conflict-of-interest laws. If an official obtains a certificate of divestiture, or CD, issued by the federal Office of Government Ethics, and invests their sale proceeds into a permitted asset—like diversified mutual funds or treasury bonds—they can defer any capital gains taxes owed on the........

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