An investigation for insider trading?

Many American Democratic leaders, led by Adam Schiff, are calling for an investigation to determine if President Donald Trump or anyone else engaged in any form of insider trading in the hours leading up to the announcement of the suspension of his tariff policy.

This request comes after a sudden surge in certain stocks, which had been in free fall, was observed in the hour preceding its announcement.

On Wednesday, April 9, in the afternoon, Trump announced a 90-day break on new tariffs for all countries, with the exception of China, which led to a sudden rise of over 9% of the S&P 500.

A few hours before his announcement, Trump had posted on Truth Social: «THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT».

Democratic Senator Adam Schiff expressed his concerns about a possible market manipulation or insider trading. He stated that he would do everything in his power to determine if the President or his entourage financially benefited from this announcement.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also expressed her doubts, questioning whether some members of Congress may have profited from privileged information about Trump’s announcement. She reacted to a post reporting a surge in the volume of call options on the Nasdaq a few minutes before the presidential announcement.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reminded Congress members that those who have recently purchased stocks should declare them, the deadline for declaration being set on May 15. She mentioned having heard «some interesting chatter», adding that it was high time to ban insider trading within Congress.

These investigation requests come after unusual movements on the markets, including a marked increase in the volume of purchase options on the Nasdaq in the hour preceding the presidential announcement. Democrats suspect Donald Trump of having warned some of his billionaire allies before making his decision public, which would have contributed to the strongest surge in the S&P 500 since 2008.

President Trump justified his decision by stating that he had observed the bond market and estimated that it was “jumping a little bit out of line”, but in the hours following his announcement he was boasting, in a video, while he was with guests at the White House, that he had made them richer: “You all just got a lot richer”, he is heard saying in the video.