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Following the tumultuous ups and downs in the stock market this week in reaction to President Donald Trump’s tariff actions, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-California) is calling on Congress to investigate the possibility of insider trading by the administration.
Trump’s tariffs placed different tax rates on products imported into the U.S. from dozens of countries across the globe, causing stocks to drop by several thousand points. On Wednesday, Trump issued a social media post that appeared to encourage investors to continue buying stocks.
“THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post just after 7:30 am Eastern Time.
Hours later in a separate post, Trump announced what he described as a “90 day PAUSE,” lowering his tariffs down to a flat 10 percent rate over most countries (except for China, for which he raised tariffs up to 125 percent). Markets reacted positively to that action, regaining much of the losses that were incurred over the past several days.
Asked by reporters when he made the decision to change his tariffs strategy, Trump said he had done so earlier in the day — around the same timeframe that he said was a good time to start buying again.
“I would say this morning. Over the last few days, I’ve been thinking about it. … Fairly early this morning,” Trump said.
The timing of those two announcements seems incredibly suspicious to Schiff, who told Time magazine that he would call on Congress to investigate whether members of the White House or allies of the president were knowledgeable of the planned changes and took advantage of them in their own investments.
“I’m going to do my best to find out,” Schiff said. “Family meme coins and all the rest of it are not beyond insider trading or enriching themselves. I hope to find out soon.”
On the social media site X, Schiff continued questioning Trump’s actions and the administration’s motives.
“Trump is creating giant market fluctuations with his on-again, off-again tariffs,” Schiff wrote. “These constant gyrations in policy provide dangerous opportunities for insider trading.”
He added:
Who in the administration knew about Trump’s latest tariff flip flop ahead of time? Did anyone buy or sell stocks, and profit at the public’s expense?
Other Democratic lawmakers expressed similar concerns.
Trump’s social media posts “[make] it clear he was eager for his people to make money off the private info only he knew,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut). “So who knew ahead of time and how much money did they make?”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) said it would be interesting to examine who within Congress may have benefited from Trump’s actions on tariffs.
“I’ve been hearing some interesting chatter on the floor. Disclosure deadline is May 15th. We’re about to learn a few things,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.
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