White House Warned Staff Not to Engage in Insider Trading Amid War With Iran
The New York Times • • general
Key Points:
- The White House warned staff in March against using insider information on the Iran conflict to trade in financial markets, following suspicious spikes in trading around key events in the war.
- Minutes before President Trump delayed a deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, select traders purchased $580 million in oil futures, potentially profiting from the market reaction.
- Critics accuse Trump of manipulating markets with his statements, while Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. is involved with prediction market companies, raising concerns about conflicts of interest.
- The White House denies any misuse of nonpublic information by Trump or administration officials, emphasizing existing ethics rules and calling allegations baseless without evidence.
- Current insider trading laws have loopholes regarding prediction markets, prompting lawmakers to propose legislation to ban public officials from betting on such markets using nonpublic information.
