Prominent Democrats have increasingly called for an investigation into whether members of the Trump administration and Congress benefited from insider trading shortly before President Donald Trump announced a pause to his global tariffs plan.
Newsweek reached out to the White House on Sunday evening, outside of normal business hours, by email for comment.
Why It Matters
Some congressional members have urged reform that would limit or ban lawmakers from trading stocks while in office, during which time they have access to highly sensitive information the public does not have.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, and Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Illinois Democrat, along with Representative Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Representative Cory Mills of Florida, both Republicans, earlier this year introduced the Bipartisan Restoring Faith in Government Act to prohibit members of Congress, their spouses, and dependents from owning or trading individual stocks during their tenure in office.
Representative Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat and former House speaker, has faced allegations of trading on insider information during her time in Congress, particularly after her husband Paul Pelosi made $5.3 million off Alphabet options before a House panel considered antitrust action against the Google parent company in 2022. Pelosi denied that her husband traded on information she gave to him.
Former President Joe Biden also endorsed a ban on congressional stock trading during the final months of his administration.
What To Know
Trump in the first days of April announced a sweeping slate of tariffs, including reciprocal tariffs against dozens of nations, that sent the U.S. economy into a near-freefall, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping nearly 4000 points in just a few days.
Despite reports that Trump intended to stick to his guns on tariffs, he reversed course just days later, prompting a massive rally in the stock market for one of the best days of trading ever.
However, analysts noted a spike in trading activity shortly before Trump announced his 90-day pause for reciprocal tariffs while a 10 percent universal tariff remains in place and China faces a 145 percent tariff.
On April 8, Trump posted on Truth Social that it was a “GREAT TIME TO BUY,” leading Senator Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, to suggest Trump had foresight. Schiff and Senator Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat, then sent a letter to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer asking for an investigation into potential conflict of interest.
Democrats renewed those calls during interview appearances on Sunday morning talk shows. Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, urged the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to conduct a “sweeping review of all securities traded” by federal officials to determine if any of them violated insider trading laws.
“There are people who have looked at what happened to purchase and to calls just before he [Trump] made that announcement that caused the stock market to skyrocket,” Warren told CNN host Jake Tapper on State of the Union. “But let me be clear with the back-and-forth here. That’s what investigations are for, and it’s entirely appropriate to have an investigation to make sure that Donald Trump, Donald Trump’s family, Donald Trump’s inner circle didn’t get advanced information and trade on that information.”
“This is how the stock market works in order to make sure on a consistent basis that no one is trading on insider information,” Warren said, adding that “the same thing should apply to Congress.”
Senator Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, during his appearance on NBC News’ Meet the Press renewed his call for an investigation into potential insider trading, telling host Kristen Welker: “The real group that should be holding investigations and accountability, and even just oversight, is Congress.”
“There is enough of an offense here, enough smoke here, that should demand congressional hearings,” he said, insisting Congress is “meant to hold oversight over the president.”
He added: “These are real, legitimate, justifiable questions, and not to have hearings, not to do any kind of oversight, undermines the faith in our government, undermines the trust we need in our nation right now.”
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump posted to Truth Social last week: “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!” He ended the post with the letters DJT, both his initials and the stock market ticker of Trump Media & Technology Group Corp, the firm in which he holds a majority stake.
When asked why he paused tariffs, Trump told reporters on Wednesday: “Well, I thought that people were jumping a little out of line, they were getting yippy…they were getting a little bit yippy, a little bit afraid.”
Senator Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, said in his video on Wednesday: “Look, this is a president who is trading in his own meme coin, even as he’s president, his kids are trading in their own cryptocurrency. You’ve got people like Elon Musk who are doing their own conflicted self-dealing in the administration. In any administration this corrupt it is more than necessary to ask, were people personally profiting from insider information while people’s savings, their retirement accounts were being torched?”
Senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, said in a video posted on X: “Who close to Trump knew that he was going to suspend the tariffs? Which of his Mar-a-Lago friends or his billionaire advisers were able to capitalize on that inside information? Why did Trump send out that post to his supporters earlier in the day? The bottom line is the chaotic nature of this tariff policy with Trump’s position changing every single hour gives ample opportunity for any individual who has early access to information about the White House’s change in position to make boatloads of money, either by investing at the right time or pulling their money out of the market at the right time. This entire White House is one giant grift.”
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, wrote on X: “Any member of Congress who purchased stocks in the last 48 hours should probably disclose that now. I’ve been hearing some interesting chatter on the floor. Disclosure deadline is May 15th. We’re about to learn a few things. It’s time to ban insider trading in Congress.”
What Happens Next?
The Trump administration will maintain a 90-day pause on tariffs while reviewing trade deals with other nations.
Meanwhile, Congress will debate any potential investigation, but it would require bipartisan support.
