- Senate Democrats have requested that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigate whether President Donald Trump violated securities laws. They seek to determine if Trump’s Truth Social post, which states it’s a “great time to buy,” constituted insider trading.
- On Wednesday, Trump declared on Truth Social that it’s a great time to buy, just hours before he announced a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs.
- The major stock indexes surged from 8% to 12% following his announcement.
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Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., have requested that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigate whether President Donald Trump violated securities laws with his Truth Social post stating that it’s a good time to buy, just before he announced a pause on tariffs.
At 9:37 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, April 9, Trump posted to Truth Social, saying, “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!”
Four hours later, the president announced a 90-day pause on the reciprocal tariffs announced a week earlier, and the major stock indices surged between 8% and 12%.
What do Democrats want the SEC to investigate?
In a letter to SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, Warren and her Democratic colleagues wrote, “It is unconscionable that as American families are concerned about their financial security during this economic crisis entirely manufactured by the President, insiders may have actively profited from the market volatility and potentially perpetrated financial fraud on the American public.”
Trump recently nominated Atkins to lead the SEC, and he was confirmed on a party-line vote Wednesday night, April 9.
Democrats conduct additional investigations into the matter
Sens. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., have asked the White House provide information regarding any investments made by members of the Trump family or White House advisors before the public announcement on tariffs.
Schiff and Gallego have also requested the Office of Government Ethics to investigate whether White House or Executive Branch employees were informed of the pending announcement and whether they made stock transactions or communicated with financial proxies before it became public.
In all these instances, Democrats lack the power to compel cooperation. They want to determine whether anyone profited illegally or unethically from Trump’s post.
“I genuinely do not care if it’s a Democrat or Republican, but anybody who traded in the last 48 hours and made an incredible amount of money prior to this tariff announcement who sits right there in that House needs to answer for it,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y., said.
What is insider trading?
According to Investopedia, insider trading refers to the practice of buying or selling a company’s securities based on material, nonpublic information. This refers to information that is confidential, not disseminated to the general public, and not readily available through ordinary research or analysis.
This complicates the case since Trump shared the information online.
