Politics
Trump disclosure suggests rampant insider trading
This may not surprise anyone at this point, but Donald Trump’s latest financial disclosure has given many the impression that he’s insider trading at an unprecedented level:
Trump Made Over 1,000 Stock Trades in June Worth $78M–$263M, Ethics Filing Shows
— NewsWire (@NewsWire_US) August 22, 2026
Rampant
In the US, alleged insider trading is far from a partisan activity. Perhaps the most notorious of the alleged inside traders is Nancy Pelosi, who we reported on in November 2025. A stock tracker which launched in 2024 showed that Pelosi was realising 54% gains on her portfolio – a percentage which far exceeded most hedge funds. As we said at the time:
If Pelosi is not in fact an insider trader, she’s simply so good at it that she can beat professionals despite working full-time in a notably stressful field of work.
The former Speaker of the House of Representatives’ impressive results are highly controversial and we only know about them because of the information made public through the STOCK Act, passed in 2012. This law requires members of Congress to share details about any stock trades worth over $1,000 within 30 to 45 days. The goal of the law was to stop insider trading and make things more transparent. And while that hasn’t exactly happened, the disclosures have inspired investors to copy lawmakers’ trades.
As bad as Pelosi allegedly is, however, the scale that Trump is operating on is something else entirely. This led to the following accusation from tech YouTuber Jerry Rig Everything:
Donald Trump just made more money in one month via insider trading than Nancy Pelosi did in 37 years. https://t.co/eyFAu5BuI7
— JerryRigEverything (@ZacksJerryRig) August 23, 2026
Trump trades
Meidas Touch drew attention to the following from Trump’s disclosure:
Trump reported a staggering 1,051 trades in his June financial disclosure. Here are two of the more curious ones:
— June 18: Bought $250K–$500K in Boeing, the same day the Navy awarded Boeing an $880 million contract for P-8A training systems.
— June 23: Bought $15K–$50K in SpaceX, the same day NASA recorded a $425.6 million award to SpaceX.
While Trump is clearly doing well for himself, he’s not doing well for the country:
The Trump economy: $40tn debt, 6.7% mortgages and $5 diesel https://t.co/9SKepLrG8S
— Financial Times (@FT) August 22, 2026
If you’re just waking up to the tariff news – this is a good summary of the trade chaos Trump has created…and why — Catherine Fife (@CFifeKW) August 22, 2026
Unsurprisingly, Trump is warning that the Democrats will impeach him if his party performs poorly in the midterm elections:
Trump: I’ll be impeached if I lose the midterms
— NewsWire (@NewsWire_US) August 22, 2026
It’s unclear what Trump’s strategy is besides complaining. His war on Iran and the resulting inflation is very unpopular; as are his tariff wars and the resulting inflation. Americans also don’t like the insider trading which he appears to be gleefully and sloppily engaging in (allegedly).
The only move he’s making which seems designed to generate mass appeal is the following, and let’s be real; this looks terrible too:
MYSTERY MEAT: Trump says he struck a deal to flood the U.S. with cheaper foreign beef.
There’s just one problem: He refuses to tell Americans which countries the beef is coming from. And U.S. ranchers are furious. https://t.co/xtjFb43rnp
— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) August 21, 2026
His mystery meat gambit looks even worse coming in the middle of an unprecedented number of food recalls:
Jesus Christ, I expanded the tweet and the list is a fucking mile long https://t.co/YkTZL12Ngz
— bunny sanders (@whatbunnysaid) August 19, 2026
Slippery slopes
Will US politicians eventually hold Trump and his cronies accountable for his allegedly criminal behaviour? That remains to be seen. But if they don’t, expect politicians to keep pushing the boundaries of what they can get away with.
Featured image via Harry Benson / Kevin Dietsch
By Willem Moore
You must be logged in to post a comment Login