Two Democratic senators are demanding answers from the White House over serious concerns that President Donald Trump’s rollbacks on his tariffs and his social media posts may have been part of insider trading among White House allies.
Sens. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., sent a letter to Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Thursday asking for an investigation into potential conflicts of interest over the actions that took place.
Hours before Trump announced he was rolling back tariffs to 10% to all countries except China, which sent the stock market soaring, he posted on Truth Social: “BE COOL! Everything is going to work out well. The USA will be bigger and better than ever before!” and “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT.”
The senators expressed grave concerns in their letter, stating, “This sequence of events raises grave legal and ethics concerns. The President, his family, and his advisors are uniquely positioned to be privy to and take advantage of non-public information to inform their investment decisions.”
According to reports, stocks were down Wednesday morning before Trump’s Truth Social post, which immediately caused markets to spike. Nasdaq soared 12.1% at close, marking its largest single-day gain since 2021, while the Dow jumped 7.8%, its biggest one-day increase in five years.
The White House has not immediately commented on the allegations made by the senators.
In their request, the senators asked the Office of Government Ethics to probe whether any White House or executive branch officials, including special government employees, were informed of the announcement in advance and what financial transactions were made by officials with knowledge of non-public information.
In addition, they sought answers about several aspects of the events that took place, such as whether any Trump family members were informed of the deliberations prior to Trump’s Truth Social post and if there were records of communications with executive branch officials, family members, or special government employees.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the president’s decision to roll back tariffs was part of his plan and that 75 countries had called to negotiate with the president. However, they did not provide further details on the matter.
Hours later, Trump stated to reporters that he made his decision early on Wednesday morning, adding, “I think it probably came together early this morning, fairly early this morning. Just wrote it up. I didn’t — we didn’t have the use of, we didn’t have access to lawyers, or it was just brought up. We wrote it up from our hearts.”
Michael Guttentag, a Loyola Law School professor who has written several research papers on insider trading, explained that there is no universal national insider trading law. Instead, cases have been prosecuted through court decisions that have set precedents over time.
Guttentag remarked, “Generally, the other issue is the standard test for insider trading is, ‘Did you have material nonpublic information?”‘
He referenced the 2012 Stock Act, which made it illegal for Congress members and anyone in the executive branch to engage in insider trading.
He stated that determining whether insider trading occurred within the White House would not be difficult, as investigators could start by pulling up trading records and matching them with individuals linked to the executive office around the time of Trump’s announcement.
In 2018, former U.S. Rep. Chris Collins was prosecuted for insider trading after the Office of Congressional Ethics determined he had informed his son to sell stocks of a pharmaceutical company based on non-public information. Investigators discovered Collins made the call to his son shortly after receiving an email about a failed drug trial while attending a picnic at the White House.
Collins ultimately resigned from his seat and pleaded guilty to insider trading in 2019, though he was later pardoned by Trump in December 2020.
Guttentag continued by explaining that the Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission would handle investigations into potential violations of the 2012 Stock Act, assessing both civil and criminal allegations.
While Trump and other officials have refrained from commenting further on Schiff and Gallego’s request, other Democratic senators at the Capitol raised questions about the timing of the announcement and the rise in stock prices.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., stated, “Look, it shouldn’t be an investigation by Democrats or Republicans, it should be an independent investigation. And if the president and his cabinet and his family have nothing to hide, they should want an investigation like that. Let’s just clear up the smoke here.”
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., expressed his concerns, saying, “Over and over again we see evidence of self-dealing and efforts to improve your bottom-line net worth with the policies of this administration. I think it deserves closer scrutiny.”
As the situation unfolds, the White House remains under scrutiny for potential ethical breaches.
In contrast, some Republican senators dismissed the allegations surrounding insider trading. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, described the accusations as “ridiculous” and asserted that Democrats were merely trying to take a dig at Trump. He stated, “It’s pretty obvious that when the stock market is in a dip that maybe if you have some money, you might consider investing and make some money when it picks back up again. I think any idea of insider trading is ridiculous.”
Guttentag reiterated the importance of investigating potential insider trading within the executive branch, emphasizing that it is necessary for upholding accountability and transparency.
He noted, “People tend to find insider trading reprehensible. If [investigators] could share evidence that people were trading in this window, it would be important in establishing transparency and keeping the rule of law.”
In summary, the demand for an investigation into the sequences of events surrounding Trump’s tariff rollbacks reflects broader concerns about transparency, ethics, and accountability in government. The outcome of this situation could set significant precedents regarding the intersection of political decisions and personal financial gain.
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