Trump Says He Would Sign Bill Banning Congressional Stock Trades
President Donald Trump said he would “absolutely” sign a bill banning congressional stock trading, saying he was concerned lawmakers could be using insider information for an advantage.
“I would be okay with it,” Trump said in an interview with Time Magazine that published Friday. “If they send that to me, I would do it.”
There has long been some bipartisan support for legislation that would limit how members of Congress could buy and sell stocks, as their access to classified intelligence and internal knowledge about the progress of lawmaking offers a leg up on others in the market. In 2020, a bipartisan group of senators drew fire for trading health care stocks after closed-door briefings on the coronavirus pandemic.
The president specifically criticized former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who resisted legislative efforts to ban stock trading by members of Congress and their families during her time leading the chamber. Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, made his fortune in real estate and venture capital in the San Francisco area, and critics have routinely highlighted instances where the couple’s had successful trades.
