Donald Trump is under scrutiny for potential market manipulation after claiming on social media that it was a “great time to buy” mere hours before his unexpected reversal on the trade war, which resulted in significant stock market gains globally.
Shortly after the US markets opened on Wednesday morning, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform: “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT”.
Not long after, he stunned investors with the announcement of a 90-day halt on additional trade tariffs for most nations, excluding China, leading to a surge in share indexes.
In the US, the S&P 500 blue-chip index closed up over 9%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq index increased by more than 12%. Asian and European markets continued to rise on Thursday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 rising by 9% and London’s FTSE 100 climbing as much as 4% in early trading.
Typically, Trump does not conclude his posts with his initials, which coincidentally match the ticker symbols for Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of Truth Social, whose stock soared by 22% on Wednesday.
The timing of the president’s posts alongside the significant increase in share prices has led to allegations of market manipulation. Democratic Senator Adam Schiff has urged for an investigation, stating: “These constant shifts in policy create dangerous chances for insider trading.
“Who in the administration was aware of Trump’s recent tariff reversal beforehand? Did anyone trade stocks and profit at the public’s expense? I’m reaching out to the White House – the public deserves answers.”
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy also commented on X, stating that an “insider trading scandal is in the works… Trump’s 9:30 am tweet clearly shows he was keen for his associates to benefit from the insider information he possessed. So who was informed in advance, and how much profit did they make?”
Democratic representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New York called on all Congress members to reveal any stocks they purchased within the last 24 hours, stating: “I’ve been hearing some intriguing discussions on the floor,” she wrote on X. “The disclosure deadline is May 15th. We’re about to uncover some facts. It’s time to put an end to insider trading in Congress.”
When US reporters inquired on Wednesday evening about when he made the decision to suspend tariffs on most countries for 90 days, Trump responded: “It was for a period of time. I would say this morning. I’ve been contemplating it over the last few days.”
However, White House officials have claimed that this shift was planned all along, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt asserting it was part of his “art of the deal” approach.
Many investors have taken advantage of stock market volatility in recent weeks to buy shares. Republican and Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene, representing Georgia, revealed that she made several purchases on April 3 and 4 – days on which sharp market declines occurred following Trump’s announcement of his “reciprocal” tariff strategy on April 2 – including shares in Amazon.com and Apple. Shares in those technology firms rose by 12% and 15%, respectively, on Wednesday.
While Trump has paused numerous new tariffs on specific countries, he has increased pressure on China, the world’s second-largest economy, raising tariffs on Chinese imports to 125% from the initial 104% that took effect on Wednesday. Beijing might retaliate after imposing 84% tariffs on US imports starting on Thursday.
