President Donald Trump sidestepped a question Friday on whether anyone on his financial team was giving “tips” to Wall Street executives.
The stock market plummeted in the days and weeks following Trump’s tariff announcement that sent global economies spiraling. In recent days, the stock market has inched back up after Trump said he would not be firing Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell and after some reports suggested Trump would be softening his stance on China.
Administration officials reportedly alerted executives on Wall Street that they were nearing a deal on trade with India, according to Fox Business reporter Charles Gasparino. Trump brushed off concerns when asked about the reporting during a press gaggle on Air Force One on Friday.
“Can you commit that nobody on your financial team was giving any type of tips to Wall Street executives about deals with India? There was a report yesterday that people had a heads up on Wall Street, possibly to make money,” a reporter asked Trump.
Trump did not make a commitment about those who he worked with.
“I can commit to myself. That’s all I can commit. You know, thousands of people work for me, but I can’t imagine anybody doing that. I have very honorable people, so I can’t even imagine it,” Trump said.
Earlier this month, Democrats sounded the alarm on concerns that Trump or those around him engaged in insider trading after he posted that it was a “GREAT TIME TO BUY” on April 9. Hours later, Trump announced that he would be suspending most tariffs, prompting the stock market to jump up.
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a staunch Trump ally, bought the market dip the day before and the day that Trump paused tariffs. This renewed calls to ban congressional stock trading.
When asked in an interview with Time Magazine whether he would support a ban, Trump said he would sign a potential bill.
“Well, I watched Nancy Pelosi get rich through insider information, and I would be okay with it. If they send that to me, I would do it,” Trump said, adding that he would “absolutely” sign it.
Big Tech stocks are carrying Wall Street higher Friday as U.S. stocks near the end of their latest roller-coaster week.
The S&P 500 was up 0.6% in late trading and adding to its big three-day rally. Spurts for Nvidia and other influential tech stocks sent the Nasdaq composite up a market-leading 1.1%.
But they were masking drops for the majority of stocks on Wall Street, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 7 points, or less than 0.1%, with an hour remaining in trading.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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