Adam Schiff Calls For Insider Trading Investigation into Trump Over Tariff Pause

Senator Adam Schiff on Wednesday called on Congress to investigate whether President Donald Trump engaged in insider trading or market manipulation when he abruptly paused a sweeping set of tariffs, a move that sent stock prices skyrocketing.

“I’m going to do my best to find out,” Schiff, a California Democrat, tells TIME when asked about allegations that the President’s 90-day tariff pause announcement may have been exploited for personal gain. “Family meme coins and all the rest of it are not beyond insider trading or enriching themselves. I hope to find out soon.”

Schiff’s comments regarding a formal inquiry, which has not been previously reported, came soon after the S&P 500 surged more than 9% on Wednesday after Trump announced the tariff pause—the kind of market movement that would normally follow significant economic news or central bank action, not a unilateral policy reversal. “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!” Trump posted on Truth Social minutes after the market opened on Wednesday, along with the letters “DJT,” which stands for both his initials and the ticker for his media company.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Schiff is the first Senator to openly call for a congressional investigation into potential insider trading by the Trump Administration in the aftermath of the President’s abrupt reversal on the implementation of new tariffs. Such investigations would typically fall under the purview of powerful congressional panels like the Senate Judiciary Committee or the Senate Finance Committee. Both are chaired by Republicans—Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Senator Mike Crapo of Idaho—who have largely avoided conflict with the White House. Individual lawmakers like Schiff can investigate matters using personal office staff, though such investigations would lack subpoena power.

Still, the timing of Trump’s announcement—and the market rally that followed—has raised eyebrows on Capitol Hill. “When my own barber asks me whether Donald Trump is selling short or doing this to try to make money for himself, it shows that a lot of people are pretty suspicious about what’s going on,” Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, tells TIME.

Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota, when asked by TIME if Trump should be investigated for potential market manipulation, said: “It’s a great question. He certainly had a lot to gain. I hadn’t thought of that.” 

Earlier on Wednesday, Rep. Steven Horsford, a Nevada Democrat, was one of the first to question whether the tariff pause was tied to market manipulation, as the news came out in the middle of a heated hearing with Trump’s trade representative, Jamieson Greer, who had vigorously defended the tariffs. Horsford shouted, “This is amateur hour. You just got the rug pulled out from under you.” He demanded to know whether the administration had deliberately moved the markets. “This is not a game. This is real life,” Horsford said.

The market’s response to Trump’s decision was swift and euphoric. Stocks jumped more than 7% within minutes of the announcement, ultimately closing up more than 9%. Bond yields, which had been rising amid fears of an economic downturn, eased. Oil prices, which had also been falling, rebounded.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, a former hedge fund manager, said the tariff pause was meant to give space for bespoke negotiations with allies. “The only certainty we can provide is that the U.S. is going to negotiate in good faith,” he said. But Bessent also acknowledged that he and the President had spoken at length before the decision, and that the move had helped “goad China into a bad position.”

Trump’s explanation, however, only added to the uncertainty. He cited “yippy” people who were “afraid,” and said he had been watching the bond market, which he described as “beautiful” after his announcement. He told reporters that “you have to be flexible,” and acknowledged that “over the last few days it looked pretty glum.”

Schiff sees a pattern in Trump’s economic policymaking. “I think what American businesspeople need is some certainty, some predictability,” he said. “They’re getting anything but. Americans who have seen their retirement savings wiped out need to be made whole. So this constant on again, off again, terrible policy has to come to an end. It’s just so uniquely self destructive.”

The California Senator has long been one of Trump’s fiercest critics. He served as the lead prosecutor in Trump’s first impeachment trial, and as a central figure in the congressional response to the Justice Department’s Russia investigation. While he did not initiate the 2017 congressional probe into Trump’s ties to Russia, Schiff became the most vocal Democrat on the committee, warning of Trump’s deference to autocratic leaders. Schiff was later censured by a Republican-led House for his comments during the investigation.

After Democrats won the House in 2018, Schiff helped lead the charge to impeach Trump over a pressure campaign involving Ukraine. Trump had threatened to withhold military aid to Kyiv unless its president announced an investigation into Joe Biden. The House impeached Trump for abuse of power, but the Republican-led Senate acquitted him.