President Donald Trump expressed support for a ban on congressional stock trading, saying in an interview with Time that he would “absolutely” sign a bill for the measure if it were to reach his desk.
Newsweek reached out to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune for comment via email on Friday afternoon.
Why It Matters
Trump won the 2024 election on the back of a promise to fix the economy and bring spending and cost of living under control. He promised to lower inflation and cut taxes as part of the major budget bill facing Congress.
Democrats have called for an investigation into some Republican lawmakers and members of the Trump cabinet who seemed to profit during the turmoil in the market in recent weeks.
Trump caused turmoil in the stock market when he first announced a slate of reciprocal tariffs and then walked it back just days later, causing the stock market to rapidly decline before experiencing one of the biggest days of growth the market has ever seen. Some noted a spike in trading activity before Trump announced a pause to the tariffs, raising suspicion of insider trading.
What To Know
“I watched Nancy Pelosi get rich through insider information, and I would be okay with it,” Trump said in the interview with Time, conducted on April 22 and published Friday. “If they send that to me, I would do it.”
Representative Pelosi, a California Democrat, has faced allegations of insider trading during her time in Congress, particularly after her husband, Paul Pelosi, made $5.3 million off Alphabet options before a House panel considered antitrust action against the Google parent company in 2022. The former House speaker denied that her husband traded on information she gave to him.
Former President Joe Biden also endorsed a ban on congressional stock trading during his final months in office.
Although lawmakers are allowed to buy and sell stocks, they are required by the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act to publicly disclose any stock trades valued over $1,000 within 45 days of the transaction.
Speaking with reporters on Air Force One during his flight to Rome to pay respects to the recently deceased Pope Francis, Trump said he couldn’t rule out that some of his staff may share insider information with Wall Street traders, but he raised significant doubts over the issue.
“I can commit to myself, that’s all I can commit to,” Trump said, adding that he hires “honorable people” and that “I have thousands of people that work for me, but I can’t imagine anybody doing that.”
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Trump Likes ‘Concept’ of Millionaire Tax Hike
Earlier this week, Trump dismissed the idea of backing a tax increase on millionaires, saying it would prove “disruptive” since “a lot of the millionaires would leave the country.”
“In the old days, they left states, they’d go from one state to the other,” Trump said in the Oval Office in response to a question from a reporter on Wednesday. “Now with transportation so quick and so easy, they leave countries.”
Trump, during the interview with Time, however, said the only reason he wouldn’t support such tax increases is that “I don’t want to be in a position where we lose an election because I was generous.”
He referenced former President George H.W. Bush‘s famous “Read My Lips” declaration in which he promised not to raise taxes, only to do so once in office and effectively seal his fate in the following election, suffering a heavy defeat to Bill Clinton.
“I would be honored to pay more…as a rich person, would not mind paying, and you know, we’re talking about very little,” Trump said. “We’re talking about one point. It doesn’t make that much difference, and yet, I could just see somebody trying to bring that up as a subject, and, you know, say, ‘Oh, he raised taxes.'”
“Well, I wouldn’t be, really, you know, in the true sense. I wouldn’t. I’d be raising them on wealthy to take care of middle class,” Trump said. “And that’s—I love that. I actually love the concept, but I don’t want it to be used against me politically, because I’ve seen people lose elections for less, especially with the fake news.”
Republicans are reportedly considering raising the top tax rate for millionaires to around 39 to 40 percent, up from 37 percent, Bloomberg reported on April 3. Another plan under discussion would raise the top tax rate for incomes greater than $626,350 to 39.6 percent, the outlet said.
When asked about the benefits of increasing taxes on millionaires, Trump said it would help cover the losses from scrapping taxes on tips and other proposals he had discussed during his campaign, again stressing his concern, however, that it would lack public support.
What People Are Saying
Representative Seth Magaziner of Rhode Island, a Democrat, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “Leader Jeffries is on board. President Trump is on board. Americans are on board. Speaker Johnson: Let’s do this. Bring my bill to ban members of Congress from trading stock to the floor.”
Steve Bannon recently posted on social media site Gettr: “Big story in WaPo that talks about how the great Russ Vought, Scott Bessent, and others including JD Vance are not just open to working on the ability to have an increase in taxes for, if not the upper bracket, then those making a million or more at 40%.
“Something we’ve advocated strongly and worked for many years here because it is the right thing to do. The working class and middle class need additional tax relief, and this is the way to get it.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News earlier this month: “I’m not a big fan of doing that. We’re the Republican Party, and we’re for tax reduction for everyone—that’s a general principle that we always try to abide by. There’s lots of discussion, lots of ideas on the Hill. People have different thoughts and theories on how we can solve this perfect equation to get all of this done. But I wouldn’t put any money on any of that yet.”
What Happens Next
Several variations of a bill seeking to ban congressional stock trading are awaiting Johnson’s call to go to the floor for debate, but have not done so yet. Trump, meanwhile, will continue to push for a major budget bill that includes some form of tax overhaul, but is likely to see an extension of his current tax cuts, which Biden extended during his administration.