The White House fired back at Democrats on Wednesday. Officials accused them of playing "partisan games" after calls for an insider trading investigation. The backlash came after President Trump paused customized reciprocal tariffs for 90 days.
“It is the responsibility of the President of the United States to reassure the markets and Americans about their economic security in the face of nonstop media fearmongering,” said White House spokesman Kush Desai to Fox Digital. “Democrats railed against China’s cheating for decades, and now they’re playing partisan games instead of celebrating President Trump’s decisive action yesterday to finally corner China.”
Sens. Adam Schiff and Ruben Gallego weren’t buying it. They sent a letter to Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer. In it, they pushed for an investigation into possible insider trading.
“This sequence of events raises grave legal and ethics concerns,” the senators wrote. “The President, his family, and his advisors are uniquely positioned to be privy to and take advantage of non-public information to inform their investment decisions.”
Just before announcing the tariff pause, Trump posted on Truth Social. “BE COOL! Everything is going to work out well. The USA will be bigger and better than ever before!” Then came the market-shaking post: “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT.” This came despite his earlier tough stance on tariffs.
The move paused the harsher tariffs Trump had placed on countries with high trade barriers against the U.S. Those countries will now face a 10% tariff while negotiations continue. But China wasn’t given a break—instead, it got hit with a steep 125% tariff after it struck back with its own.
“I’m going to do my best to find out,” Schiff told Time regarding the insider trading claims. “Family meme coins and all the rest of it are not beyond insider trading or enriching themselves. I hope to find out soon.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the pause happened because Trump wants a hands-on role. "We've had more than 75 countries contact us," Bessent told reporters. "Each one of these solutions is going to be bespoke... President Trump wants to be personally involved."
Trump addressed concerns about the economy and the bond market on Wednesday. He called the bond market “tricky” and admitted it was making some people uneasy. But he denied it changed his stance on tariffs.
“I thought that people were jumping a little bit out of line. They were getting yippy,” Trump said. “You know, they we're getting a little bit yippy, a little bit afraid, unlike these champions... No other president would have done what I did.”