7 Times Trump Influenced Markets and Investors Bet Big
In a GOP administration known for rampant corruption, alleged insider trading has never been easier. We look at the dodgy deals and suspicious bets that followed the president’s statements.
Amid all of US President Donald Trump’s chronic self-contradictions, his self-serving desire to shape the global economy is a rare constant. The oil crisis stoked by Trump’s war on Iran may have exposed the limits of such efforts, but his public statements and social media posts on the war show he maintains his aim to bend markets to his will.
Furthermore, as Trump sends prices dropping or soaring, anonymous traders seem to be turning foreknowledge of executive actions into financial gain.
While the nation’s wealthiest exploit stock and prediction markets, regulatory bodies are increasingly uninterested in stopping financial crimes. The number of enforcement cases filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is down 20% from those pursued by his predecessor under the Biden administration. The Trump-appointed SEC chair, Paul Atkins, recently refused to say that insider trading is always bad. Over at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the enforcement agency for futures markets, the current head created an “innovation task force” for industries key to the Trump family. Ben Schiffrin, a former attorney at the SEC, notes that Atkins is prioritizing the promotion of AI, crypto, and prediction markets ahead of his regulatory responsibilities.
In these free-for-all conditions, Zeteo is breaking down seven instances of suspicious trading resulting from the president’s statements:
1. ‘Liberation Day’ Loopholes
In March 2025, ahead of Trump’s various tariff announcements, including the sweeping “Liberation Day” statement that tanked the market, multiple executive branch officials made “well-timed trades.” As ProPublica reported, such traders included a top US trade official and multiple longtime State Department officials. A US ambassador, Gautam Rana, sold between $830,000 and $1.7 million worth of stock in two weeks ahead of Trump’s announcement.
Tyler Gellasch, who runs the Healthy Markets Association, an ethics group, told ProPublica that such trading “undermines trust in government and the markets” and makes “our markets look rigged.”