Trump Faces Market Manipulation Charge with Tariff Pause, Boasts His Billionaire Friends Making Millions in Viral Video

US President Donald Trump has landed in controversy yet again after a video of him boasting about his friends making billions from the stock market went viral. The video shows Trump casually telling a group of people, “It’s not just a company, it’s actually an individual. He made $2.5 billion today… he made $900 million… he is in financials.” The clip is being widely shared with captions accusing Trump of stock market manipulation.

READ MORE: EU Puts Tariff Retaliation On Hold For 90 Days To Match Donald Trump's Pause | Republic World 

Trump Faces Heat Over Stock Market Manipulation 

This comes after Trump posted on Truth Social, “This is a great time to buy!!!” just hours before he suddenly paused the new 90-day tariff plan on all countries except China which still faces 125 per cent tariff. As soon as the announcement came, stock markets jumped including shares of his own company, DJT.

Earlier, Trump had proposed massive tariffs on goods from countries like India, Japan, and China, which were expected to be implemented from April 9. But on the morning of the same day, he made the surprise announcement to delay them, citing economic concerns such as recession. 

“Biggest Financial Crime in History”

There are several posts on social media claiming that Trump is involved in stock market manipulation as he first announced tariffs, then posted on Truth Social asking people to buy a stock, and later paused the tariffs. Netizens are calling it the "biggest financial crime in history".

On Wednesday, Trump told his followers on Truth Social to “Buy DJT”, referring to the stock of his own media company. Soon after, he paused the global tariffs he had earlier announced. As a result, DJT stock jumped from $16 to $22 within a few hours. Many users are calling it a clear case of insider trading.

Netizens React to Trump's Stock Manipulation Tactics 

One user wrote, “Trump telling everyone to ‘buy now!’ and then rolling back world tariffs to boost US stocks is surely stock market manipulation. This is securities fraud under US law and can lead to 25 years in jail.”

Another said, “So now Trump is using insider info to pump his own stock. This is CLEARLY illegal, but since he’s the president, no one can touch him.”

A third user wrote, “What Trump did might be the biggest stock market manipulation in history. He tweeted at 9:37 AM, paused tariffs by 1:19 PM, and the market jumped. All in just 4 hours.”