More Than a Dozen U.S. Officials Sold Stocks Before Trump's Tariffs Sent the Market Plunging

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More Than a Dozen U.S. Officials Sold Stocks Before Trump’s Tariffs Sent the Market Plunging
by Robert Faturechi, Pratheek Rebala and Brandon Roberts
May 22, 2025, 6 a.m. EDT
Records show well-timed trades by executive branch employees and congressional aides. Even if they had no insider information, ethics experts say such trading undermines faith in government and the markets.

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The week before President Donald Trump unveiled bruising new tariffs that sent the stock market plummeting, a key official in the agency that shapes his administration’s trade policy sold off as much as $30,000 of stock.

Two days before that so-called “Liberation Day” announcement on April 2, a State Department official sold as much as $50,000 in stock, then bought a similar investment as prices fell.

And just before Trump made another significant tariff announcement, a White House lawyer sold shares in nine companies, records show.

More than a dozen high-ranking executive branch officials and congressional aides have made well-timed trades since Trump took office in January, most of them selling stock before the market plunged amid fears that Trump’s tariffs would set off a global trade war, according to a ProPublica review of disclosures across the government.

All of the trades came shortly before a significant government announcement or development that could influence stock prices. Some who sold individual stocks or broader market funds used their earnings to buy investments that are generally less risky, such as bonds or treasuries. Others appear to have kept their money in cash. In one case unrelated to tariffs, records show that a congressional aide bought stock in two mining companies shortly before a key Senate committee approved a bill written by his boss that would help the firms.

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https://www.propublica.org/article/us-officials-stock-sales-trump-tariffs?fbclid=IwY2xjawKcMrRleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETE2aEdzMW95S1VGTG45SlRUAR7EVs1avifRsy8UMM61dJAi-DcTiAawZ_axh8vtBy34F5ba3TNZ9DqMmey3wQ_aem_nWD_ZVlkM_uVDl8-Xsg48g