MAGA politicians need to disclose their stock trading in Trump's recent tariff flipflop
The lawmakers’ letter called attention to the fact that Members of Congress closest to the President, including many of whom met or were in his presence throughout the course of the week, were in positions to profit from the unstable changes in policy.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Newsweek reports that MAGAnut and Chair of the House DOGE Committee Marjorie Taylor Greene made major stock purchases at the start of Trump's trade war and may have made significant profits from insider information. In a rare bout of truthfulness, Trump attempted to mitigate criticism of his trade war by noting that some people are making a lot of money. - Will Collette
“It would be unconscionable for any Member of Congress to use their personal position to benefit financially, especially in a time where Americans across the country are experiencing financial chaos,” wrote Magaziner, Neguse, Levin, Horsford, Min and Ocasio-Cortez. “Therefore, we respectfully request that you join us in requesting that Members of Congress immediately release their PTRs, rather than the customary 45-day deadline. The American people deserve to know if any representatives took advantage of their positions for personal gain.”
The lawmakers’ request is the latest in a series of commonsense efforts to ensure Members of Congress are effectively representing the interests of the American people, not their own stock portfolios. Magaziner and his fellow co-signers have also championed a number of legislative and oversight measures that would require both representatives and their families to place investments, like individual stocks, in a blind trust during their tenure in Congress – effectively banning Members of Congress from trading individual stocks.
Magaziner is the lead sponsor of the TRUST in Congress Act, the bill with the most momentum in Congress to ban members of Congress from trading stocks, with 60 cosponsors.
The full text of the letter is below:
Thursday, April 10th
Dear Speaker Johnson,
We write to urge that you join us in requesting every Member of the House of Representatives immediately file and release their Periodic Trading Reports (PTR) for any transactions conducted between April 2, 2025, and April 9, 2025. The public has the right to know whether anyone in the Congress profited from the considerable market instability and economic chaos caused by President Trump and his administration over the past week.
As you are well aware, President Trump’s widespread imposition of tariffs across the world sent the market into a tailspin and placed the country’s economic stability at risk. In response to the outcry from Americans and our allies, President Trump paused some of these tariffs, opening a ripe opportunity for Members — particularly those close to the President — to personally profit from the change in policy. Over the past week, House Republicans met with President Trump at the White House, attended the National Republican Congressional Committee dinner (mere hours before pausing the tariffs), and were in regular communication with the President ahead of the vote on the budget reconciliation resolution.
It would be unconscionable for any Member of Congress to use their personal position to benefit financially, especially in a time where Americans across the country are experiencing financial chaos. Therefore, we urge you to join us in requesting that Members of Congress immediately release their PTRs, rather than the customary 45-day deadline. The American people deserve to know if any representatives took advantage of their positions for personal gain. Further, it is with that in mind that we reiterate our request for immediate consideration of legislation to ban members of Congress from trading stocks.
We look forward to your prompt attention and action on this matter.