this post was submitted on 22 May 2025
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324
More Than a Dozen U.S. Officials Sold Stocks Before Trump’s Tariffs Sent the Market Plunging (www.propublica.org)
submitted 8 hours ago by vegeta@lemmy.world to c/politics@lemmy.world
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[–] frog_brawler@lemmy.world 1 points 29 minutes ago* (last edited 26 minutes ago) (1 children)

Lol, yea... I sold off a bunch of stuff before Trump's tariff's too. Guess what else, I also bought a few contracts of SPY when it dropped as a result. I've made a bunch of money off the Trump corruption. You can too.

It's entirely fucked up that this is happening, but you're a fool if you're not taking advantage of the system that they're manipulating right now.

General advice at this point, check the dumb shit he says on Truth social every once in a while, and consider buying really cheap SPY calls after the man-made dips.

[–] P1nkman@lemmy.world 1 points 14 minutes ago

What are SPY calls?

[–] ExtantHuman@lemm.ee 9 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

I imagine that number is off by an order of magnitude

[–] kameecoding@lemmy.world 1 points 37 minutes ago

I bet they bought it back too after the plunge and sold when it was put off

[–] makyo@lemmy.world 7 points 4 hours ago
  1. Make illegal any trading by legislative/judicial/executive and anyone closely linked or related
  2. There is no #2

To enforce #1 we require they move all investments to a market-wide USA ETF (or US bonds) before they can take their position and disallow sales or any unscheduled purchases while they hold that position. If they're not comfortable investing in the market they now have a part in keeping healthy then they are absolutely welcome to hold it as cash.

[–] octopus_ink@slrpnk.net 38 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

And there will be no measurable consequences even if all evidence should happen to point to insider trading. If there's even an investigation I'll be amazed.

And THAT is what "undermines faith in government and the markets."

[–] KindnessIsPunk@lemmy.ca 9 points 5 hours ago

TL;DR:

Over a dozen U.S. government officials and congressional aides sold stocks just before Trump’s major tariff announcements, which later caused market drops. While there’s no proof they used insider info, the timing is extremely suspect

Officials who sold their stocks include a White House lawyer, a State Department official, and a Trade Representative director selling shares before key announcements. Experts argue such trades undermine trust in government and markets.

[–] ExtremeDullard@lemmy.sdf.org 22 points 7 hours ago

The Art of the Grift.

[–] kruhmaster@sh.itjust.works 31 points 8 hours ago

Little late on this, but okay.

[–] hefejefe@lemm.ee 9 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

Brief Devils advocate here: the tariffs were public knowledge since at least February. I also sold a bunch of stocks before the market tanked.

Trump is quoted saying “there is going to be some pain” in early February while discussing tariffs on Mexico and Canada. That’s enough insight to make me sell, and that was well before most of these insiders sold their position.

It’s very, very, very difficult to prove insider trading unfortunately. It does look bad from a trust standpoint however, and I agree with that sentiment. It looks especially bad when the president and CEOs laugh about how much money they’ve made while standing in the Oval Office.

Insider trading or not, the optics don’t look good.

[–] frog_brawler@lemmy.world 1 points 28 minutes ago

Were you also buying contracts on SPY when it was hanging out around 515?

[–] ExtantHuman@lemm.ee 4 points 4 hours ago

They sold immediately before the announcement. They knew the exact timing to gain the most money they could, using their prior knowledge. They weren't guessing what would happen in the vague future. They had concrete knowledge the announcement was going to happen, how much the tariffs were for, and when.

[–] RedditIsDeddit@lemmy.world 21 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

the most corrupted ministration in the US history again, I did the same thing they did but I don't have any requirements not to

[–] MutilationWave@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 hour ago

Yep I could see the fall coming a mile away. Sold near the top. I didn't expect such a rapid recovery but I'm not going back in, I think the next drop could be even worse. Like think depression not recession.

[–] iAmTheTot@sh.itjust.works 11 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

I'm in favour of banning government members from trading stocks, but it didn't exactly take an insider to predict that the tariffs would bring the market down.

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 5 hours ago

it didn't exactly take an insider to predict that the tariffs would bring the market down.

Nope, but it took an insider to know the timing before everyone else and thus get a head start before things start plummeting. There's a shitload of money to be pilfered that way.

[–] roguetrick@lemmy.world 8 points 7 hours ago (2 children)

How many had SPY puts

[–] frog_brawler@lemmy.world 2 points 27 minutes ago

I'm too regarded to understand puts. I only buy calls.

[–] MutilationWave@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

If I had balls I would have. Can't gamble our house money though. I did sell near the top.

[–] Tolookah@discuss.tchncs.de 10 points 8 hours ago

That's it? Seems like a small number

[–] urno@lemmy.world 7 points 7 hours ago

It’s simply unbelievable that that would occur.

[–] Placebonickname@lemmy.world 6 points 8 hours ago

Corruption!