Two Democratic senators are demanding answers from the White House over serious concerns that President Donald Trump’s rollbacks on his tariffs and his social media posts earlier Wednesday may have been part of insider trading among White House allies.
Sens. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., sent a letter to Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Thursday asking for an investigation into potential conflicts of interest over the actions that took place Wednesday.
Hours before Trump announced he was rolling back tariffs to 10% to all countries except China, which sent the stock market soaring, he posted on Truth Social: “BE COOL! Everything is going to work out well. The USA will be bigger and better than ever before!” and “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT.”
Sen. Ruben Gallego speaks at a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing for at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 17, 2025.
Ben Curtis/AP
“This sequence of events raises grave legal and ethics concerns. The President, his family, and his advisors are uniquely positioned to be privy to and take advantage of non-public information to inform their investment decisions,” the senators said in their letter.
The White House has not immediately commented.
The senators asked the Office of Government Ethics to probe whether any White House or executive branch officials, to include special government employees, were informed of the announcement in advance and what financial transactions were made by officials with knowledge of nonpublic information.
Senator Adam Schiff attends a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., April 7, 2025.
Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
