Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on warpath after it was revealed Trump devotee Marjorie Taylor Greene bought large amounts of stock just hours before president’s tariff pause.
Donald Trump sycophant Marjorie Taylor Greene bought large amounts of stock just hours before the president paused tariffs. The MAGA firebrand, who has clashed with several British journalists over her views, cashed in on the recent stock market crash as the US leader wiped trillions of dollars off markets. Now Democrats, led by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have increased their criticism after newly disclosed financial documents showed Greene purchased a significant amount of stock.
It came just hours before Trump’s surprise policy shift sent markets surging. Speaking at a campaign-style event in Idaho alongside Senator Bernie Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez directly confronted Greene over the timing of the trades, which occurred during a period of extreme market volatility triggered by the US leader.
“We saw Marjorie Taylor Greene buy that dip,” she told the crowd. “How much did you make? How much did you make off of people’s despair? How much did you make off of that panic? How much did you make off of that suffering? No more. We can’t accept it.”
Financial disclosures revealed Greene bought between £16,000 and £240,000 in shares during a window of heightened market activity. One of the transactions coincided with Trump’s post on Truth Social encouraging investors to buy into the market: “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!”
Ocasio-Cortez has called for an investigation into potential insider trading by members of Congress during the lead-up to Trump’s tariff announcement. She renewed those calls this week, echoing widespread concerns that Republican lawmakers may be profiting off privileged access to information.
She was not alone. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries also took aim at Greene. “So many of these people are crooks, liars and frauds,” he said. “Exhibit A: Marjorie Taylor Greene.” He added that Democrats would move to bar sitting members of Congress from trading individual stocks altogether. “We are seeing corruption unfold before us in real-time,” Jeffries said. “It’s past time to put an end to it.”
The controversy comes after Wall Street suffered one of its most severe downturns in history following Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement on April 4. In just two days, £5 trillion in value was wiped from US markets.
The S&P 500 dropped nearly six per cent by the close on Friday, April 4 – its worst performance since the COVID-19 crash of March 2020. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 5.5 per cent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq shed 5.82 per cent. Those declines followed similarly steep losses the day before.
Then, in a dramatic reversal five days later on April 9, Trump announced that while tariffs on Chinese imports would be hiked to 125 per cent, the rest of the world would face only 10 per cent tariffs. More importantly for the markets, Trump declared a 90-day pause on the reciprocal tariff program he had unveiled the previous week in the White House Rose Garden. Just hours earlier, Trump had posted on Truth Social: “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!” The market immediately responded.
Stocks surged nearly ten per cent in one day — the third-biggest single-day gain since World War II. The Nasdaq jumped over 12 per cent, and the S&P 500 rose 10 per cent, outperforming even relief rallies during the 2008 financial crisis. The Dow closed up nearly 3,000 points on April 9.
That dramatic rebound raised red flags for ethics watchdogs and lawmakers alike, given the stock activity reported among some members of Congress.
Greene’s trades reportedly made just before the reversal, have drawn particular scrutiny. White House officials attempted to downplay the appearance of market manipulation. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the pause had “been the strategy all along,” while White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt scolded those for questioning Trump’s negotiation tactics.
Meanwhile, Ocasio-Cortez took to social media to express concerns that members of Congress may have exploited foreknowledge of the tariff reversal.
“Any member of Congress who purchased stocks in the last 48 hours should probably disclose that now,” she wrote on X. “I’ve been hearing some interesting chatter on the floor. The disclosure deadline is May 15th.” She added: “We’re about to learn a few things. It’s time to ban insider trading in Congress.”
Under current rules, lawmakers must disclose any stock trades within 45 days.