On Wednesday morning, the U.S. President posted something unexpected on his social media platform, Truth Social. Just as the stock market opened, he wrote: “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT.” The message quickly attracted attention, not only because of the bold statement, but also because of what followed.
Just hours later, the President announced a 90-day pause on new trade tariffs affecting most countries — with the exception of China, which continued to face increased import duties. As soon as this news broke, stock markets across the world soared.
In the United States, the S&P 500 index jumped more than 9%, and the Nasdaq — focused on tech companies — rose over 12%. Similar gains were seen internationally. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index climbed 9%, and London’s FTSE 100 index went up by as much as 4% in early trading.
As reported by The Guardian, the timing of the President’s post was highly unusual. He rarely ends his social media messages with his initials, “DJT,” but did so in this case. Those same letters also happen to be the ticker symbol for Trump Media & Technology Group, the company that owns Truth Social. That company’s stock jumped 22% on the same day.
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Accusations Begin to Surface
The sudden combination of the President’s post and the tariff decision made people suspicious. Lawmakers and officials began asking serious questions. They wondered if this was a case of market manipulation — when someone with inside knowledge tries to influence stock prices for personal or political gain.
Many were concerned that people close to the President may have known about the tariff decision in advance and used that knowledge to buy stocks before prices shot up. That could be a form of insider trading, which is illegal. One senator said that these constant changes in trade policies could give unfair advantages to people who are “in the know.”
Another lawmaker pointed out that the timing of the President’s post looked like a green light for his followers and allies to jump into the market before the rest of the public had any idea what was coming.
According to several media reports, concern also spread through Congress. One representative said all lawmakers should be required to reveal if they bought stocks in the past 24 hours. She hinted that she had heard some rumors among colleagues about unusual stock activity. She reminded everyone that the deadline for reporting stock purchases was coming soon and added, “We’re about to learn a few things.”
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Big Gains and Bigger Questions
Meanwhile, public financial filings show that one of the President’s closest political allies bought shares in major tech companies like Amazon and Apple shortly after the President first announced aggressive new tariffs on April 2nd — which had caused stock prices to fall. Those same stocks soared after the tariff pause was revealed. On Wednesday, Amazon shares went up by 12%, and Apple’s rose by 15%, turning those earlier purchases into major wins.
When asked by reporters exactly when he made the decision to delay the tariffs, the President gave a vague answer, saying it was “this morning” and that he had been thinking about it “over the last few days.” However, White House officials told reporters that the move was part of a broader negotiation strategy — describing it as his “art of the deal” in action.
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While tariffs were temporarily halted for many countries, pressure on China intensified. The tariff rate on Chinese imports was raised from 104% to 125%. In response, Beijing imposed an 84% tariff on American goods starting Thursday.
As widely reported across the media, the timing and market impact of the President’s actions continue to raise questions about ethics, transparency, and accountability.
