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- [00:01]
Ben Meiselas
This episode is brought to you by Shopify. Upgrade your business with Shopify, home of the number one checkout on the planet. Shop pay boosts conversions up to 50%, meaning fewer carts going abandoned and more sales going cha ching. So if you're into growing your business, get a commerce platform that's ready to sell wherever your customers are. Visit shopify.com to upgrade your selling today. The question is a very simple one. Did Donald Trump intentionally tank the market by tariffing the world so that once the market crashed and he removed a lot of those tariffs or pressed pause on it and the market shot back up, that he would enrich himself and his billionaire friends? I want to explore this with you and I want to share with you what certain Democratic senators and members of Congress are doing as they demand investigations into whether market manipulation took place. So let's take a look at this and analyze it through a legal prism. As a law professor, let me try to walk us all through this. So right earlier yesterday morning, kind of first thing in the morning, Donald Trump made the following two posts. Be cool. Everything is going to work out well. The USA will be bigger and better than ever before. Exclamation point. He followed up by saying in all caps, this is a great time to buy. Exclamation point, exclamation point, exclamation point, D, J, T. Now, under United States securities law and really the very existence of the securities and Exchange Commission is to prevent behavior like this. Because could you imagine if the CEO of a company or an executive of the company posted out, buy the stock now. Buy, buy, buy. What do you think would happen? It would manipulate the market and people would go and buy. Or insiders would say that's a signal. And then maybe temporarily the stock would go up. And then if it crashed again, retail investors and people can get screwed. Insiders can benefit off of this knowledge, and the knowledge is contained and controlled by insiders. That's why there are all these laws against INS trading. So you know, Donald Trump and his regime members, all of his propagandists, the Treasury Secretary, Scott Besson, the Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, his press secretary, propagandist Caroline Levitt, and Trump have been saying there will never be a pause, ever, in these tariffs that Donald Trump placed against the world. They will always remain in effect. Tariffs are the greatest thing ever. It's going to make America rich. We will not back down on tariffs. In fact, Donald Trump's trade representative, who ostensibly is the person who came up with the tariff formula, was testifying over the past two days, first in front of the Senate, then in front of the House of Representatives saying that the tariffs will always remain in effect. In fact, he was testifying, Jameson Greer was testifying to that effect that the tariffs are not going to be removed when Donald Trump then posted around noon yesterday, at least my time, based on the lack of respect that China has shown to the world's markets. I'm raising the tariffs to China, he says by 125%. He then says, though he's pausing, pausing the tariffs as it relates to everybody else. He says the tariffs are otherwise going to be paused. And then what happened? The stock markets just started surging up and they went from crashing to basically having the best gains on a day to day basis in a very long time. It should be noted that during some of the periods of the greatest market crashes, the Great Recessions of kind of the 2008 period and also during COVID as well, some of the biggest losses were then followed by the biggest gains. It's demonstrative of market volatility. But while the market all of a sudden accelerated up. First question was was there a test of this a few days before? Did the Trump regime or insiders test this out to see if this was going to make the market surge? Did they run a test? I'll get into that in a second but first I want to talk about tracking some of these exchange traded funds. These exchange traded funds, they have these funny names like QQQ or like QQQT or spy. Spy. But all these exchange traded basically mean is they seek to provide investment results that before expenses correspond generally to the price and yield performances of the different indexes. So like the QQQ follows NASDAQ, spy follows the S&P 500. So when you take a look at this, there's very suspicious trading taking place. The unusual Whales account explains it over here. Now that you have the background on QQQ and it's tqqq. These are these exchange traded funds and spy. Remember those just track the indexes. All right. This is what this account says. All right. I think people knew of the tariff pause and traded on it beforehand. You can see before Trump Posted by Untruth social traders open QQQ, TQQ and spy calls right before the news someone opened spy 509 calls expiring. Get this today. So those calls were up 2100% in one hour. You take a look at these charts, you can see all of the volume that was literally open today. Look at that little green arrow Right there you can see all the volume is new opening volume not only on the zero days, but also on the weekly QQQ and TQQ calls. This is especially odd given the IVR and these was around 82 this morning through the roof. The traders really wanted to trade directionally here. In fact using unusual wells Net premium. You can see people have been loading calls trading for a reversal following these open calls. Very clear example right here. And then other example, the market exploded a few hours later after Donald Trump paused the tariffs. You can actually see right after Donald Trump posted on Trump media on Truth Social the call premiums exploded. So those traders who waited then though they exited over 300% up today. You can see right here what you know, the behavior of the market right there of people trading the Trump media right there. So now go back, rewind a little bit for a second, right? And remember what happened on April 7, 2025, whatever this account is. This Walter Bloomberg account reported the following. Kevin Hassett, Trump's top economic advisor. Trump is considering a 90 day pause in tariffs for all countries except China. That was from Monday, April 7. And then the Trump regime walked it back. But what we saw immediately is the stocks went up like a thousand points or like 3, 4%. And then they went down, down, down, down, down again. So the question was, was that information leaked out there into the market as a trial balloon, as a test earlier in the week then the Trump regime said, ah, I got it. This will have the effect of pumping the market and we can create a pump and dump scenario. I'm asking questions right here as a lawyer or as someone who was investigating this, these are the questions you'd want to ask as the Coffeezilla account post. Wait, so the Monday fake news about the 90 day pause was actually real all along? Spencer Hakimian, who I think's been doing a great job tracking all the chaos in the Trump financial markets goes by the way, the leaked pause news the other day he believes was a hundred percent intentional. White House wanted to see how markets would react if and when they needed to exercise their put. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. This account right here explains so someone, and we've seen lots of trades like this, but this is just one trade. Just as an example, and I wanna give you specific examples of someone just trading on spy, the exchange traded fund tied to the S and p. Someone bought $1.3 million of spy earlier. They are now worth $33 million. So someone who bought that earlier just made $33 million in one day you see the cycle of Trump decision making, or lack thereof, that we have on the Midas Touch network. I make stupid decisions, something really bad happens. I convince my followers the problem is now magically solved. I reverse my stupid decisions. That's the but within that is Trump and his oligarch buddies getting rich off of this is the question. Now Senator Adam Schiff is asking those questions. He's launched an investigation. Let's go to Senator Schiff and see what he has to say. Senator Schiff, tell us about it.
- [09:32]
Adam Schiff
So today Trump removed many of the tariffs he had imposed in this on again, off again, it must be Wednesday, tariffs are off again kind of policy. This has just wreaked havoc on the markets, of course. But there is another profound danger as well, and that is insider trading within the White House, within the administration. You may have seen early in the day Trump tweet this now this is a good time to buy. So the question is between that tweet and Donald Trump's announcement that he was reducing the tariffs on most other nations apart from China. The question is, who knew what the President was going to do? And did people around the President trade stock knowing the incredible gyration the market was about to go through? Because look, this is a President who is trading in his own meme coin even as he's president, his kids are trading in their own cryptocurrency. You've got people like Elon Musk who are doing their own conflicted self dealing in the administration. In any administration this corrupt, it is more than necessary to ask, were people personally profiting from insider information while people's savings, their retirement accounts were being torched. So we're writing to the White House to demand answers. Now, I am fully cognizant of the fact that the White House is probably the last place to be forthcoming about this or any other corruption in the administration. We in Congress need to do more than demand answers. We need to do the oversight necessary to get those answers. To date, Republicans have not been willing to do this. Not when it comes to insider trading potentiality, not when it comes to anything. But we have been very fortunate in the minority that so many whistleblowers have come forward with information about corruption in the administration. Just a few days ago, I held a hearing with people who had to quit the Justice Department, were fired at the Justice Department because they were observing corrupt activity that they would not participate in. We have tremendously benefited from courageous people coming forward. So we invite whistleblowers to step forward. But at the End of the day, we're going to get to the bottom of this. Whether people were profiting off the pain of the American people, this episode is.
- [11:57]
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- [13:29]
Ben Meiselas
Next, let's go to Democratic Congressmember Stephen Horsford. Here he grills Donald Trump's top trade representative, Jameson Greer on Donald Trump's tariff reversal. Remember, Jameson Greer spent two days. I'll do a whole other video on this. But he spent two days first in the Senate, then in the House saying there will never be a pause. And then while Greer was there in the House of Representatives saying there will never be a pause, Trump did a pause on all of the countries other than China and then raised the China tariffs. And here was what Representative Stephen Horsford, Democratic Congressmember, had to say. Play this clip.
- [14:07]
Stephen Horsford
There is a trade. We already have a free trade agreement. We have a trade surplus. So getting the least bad. Why did they get whacked in the first place?
- [14:17]
Elizabeth Warren
We're addressing the $1.2 trillion deficit, the largest in human history that President Biden left us with. We should be running up the score in Australia.
- [14:26]
Stephen Horsford
On Australia, we have a trade Surplus with Australia. We have a free trade agreement.
- [14:32]
Ben Meiselas
Why?
- [14:33]
Stephen Horsford
They are incredibly important national security partner. Why were they whacked with a tariff?
- [14:38]
Elizabeth Warren
Senator, despite the agreement, they ban our beef, they ban our pork. They're getting ready to impose measures on our.
- [14:45]
Stephen Horsford
With your Greek letter formula, the fact that we have a trade surpl, we.
- [14:50]
Elizabeth Warren
Have a global tariff on every. We're trying to address the $1.2 trillion. I think that answer Biden left us with.
- [14:55]
Stephen Horsford
I think that answer, sir, you're a much smarter person than that answer. The idea that we are going to whack friend and foe alike, and particularly friends with this level is both. I think insulting the Australians undermines our national security and frankly makes us not a good partner going forward. The lack of trust from friends and allies based upon this ridiculous policy that goes into full effect at midnight tonight is extraordinary.
- [15:27]
Ben Meiselas
And here's what Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said demanding an investigation. Let's play it.
- [15:32]
Caroline Levitt
And right before Donald Trump declared that some of his tariffs were off again, he sent out a message to his billionaire buddies. He posted this is a great time to buy in all caps. Was that market manipulation? Was it corruption in plain sight? We need an independent investigation into market manipulation because Americans need to know whether President Trump or anyone in his administration manipulated the market to benefit their donors, all while they are working for the American people. And while small businesses and those working families are paying a price. It's a disaster. But here's the thing. Republicans in Congress have a chance to stop him right now. If they do nothing, they, along with Trump are responsible for the fallout.
- [16:30]
Ben Meiselas
So meanwhile, the Trump White House posted the following. They have the photo of Donald Trump that looks like the mug shot of him. And the this is actually the White House post after Donald Trump created chaos in the markets, said there would never be a pause and then said there's a pause on all of the countries. Although there's not a pause when it comes to the what the aluminum and steel tariffs, the tariffs on Canada and Mexico. And he says he's looking to put tariffs on pharmaceuticals and there's 125% tariffs on China. Frankly, people are very confused what the whole situation is. But just so you see for yourself here, Scott, here is multiple clips that even Fox ran with of Trump officials saying there would be no pause. Here's Fox with multiple clips of Trump officials saying there would be no pause. Play this clip.
- [17:17]
Scott Bessant
Would you be open to a pause in tariffs to allow for negotiations?
- [17:21]
Adam Schiff
Well, we're not looking at that.
- [17:23]
Ben Meiselas
Will you do a 90 day pause would you consider that or Bill? Yeah.
- [17:27]
Caroline Levitt
You know, I think that the President.
- [17:28]
Ben Meiselas
Is going to decide what the President's going to decide. Here's the thing.
- [17:32]
Adam Schiff
There's, this is not a negotiation.
- [17:34]
Ben Meiselas
There is no postponing. They are definitely going to stay in.
- [17:37]
Stephen Horsford
Place for days and weeks.
- [17:38]
Ben Meiselas
That is sort of obvious. Now, if I was presenting this case to a jury, one of the things that I would say is a smoking gun is actually what Scott Besant, the Treasury Secretary, said yesterday. Here's Bessant saying that he and Trump had a long talk on Sunday and this was the strategy all along. Here, play this clip.
- [18:00]
Adam Schiff
All this was, again, this was driven by the President's strategy. He and I had a long talk on Sunday and this was his strategy all along. And that, you know, you might even say that he goaded China into a bad position. They, they responded. They have shown themselves to the world to be the bad act actors. And we are willing to cooperate with our allies and with our trading partners who did not retaliate. It wasn't a hard message. Don't retaliate. Things will turn out well.
- [18:35]
Ben Meiselas
Now, Scott Besant, the Treasury Secretary and Caroline Levitt are trying to show, oh, this is the art of the deal. This shows how smart Trump is. This was all part of three dimensional chess. Well, well, if they're saying that this was the plan all along. So their plan all along was to deceive the American people, deceive American corporations, cause American corporations chaos. What if in reliance American corporations were building, said, okay, well, I guess we got to move factories, change supply chains. So that was all part of the plan. They didn't want to tell it. They created this chaos, destroyed tons of businesses that are, that are going to feel the effects of this. Small businesses, medium sized business, business in general, they don't have the luxury to go, oops, I guess it's not a tariff day. I guess it's terror. So that was the plan all along, but that was kept secret to destroy wealth, to erase $10 trillion from the markets, to wipe out $10 trillion in the markets. Wipe it out, erase it. People had to go to their 529 accounts for the college savings accounts for their kids because they were terrified. This was the plan. And then a massive transfer of wealth. I mean, it seems like that's an admission to me. And here's Caroline Levitt again, this seems like an admission to me. Play this clip.
- [19:57]
Scott Bessant
Excuse me, excuse me, Raquel. If I could just add to what the secretary said, many of you in the media clearly missed the art of the deal. You clearly failed to see what President Trump is doing here. You tried to say that the rest of the world would be moved closer to China, when in fact we've seen the opposite effect. The entire world is calling the United States of America, not China, because they need our markets, they need our consumers, and they need this president in the Oval Office to talk to them. And that's exactly why more than 75 countries have called. Because the United States of America is the best place in the world to do business. And as the president has shown great courage, as the secretary has said, in choosing to retaliate against China even higher. Elena, go ahead.
- [20:38]
Ben Meiselas
I'll let you judge all that data for yourself. You could let me know what you think, but I wanted to analyze this like I would if I was presenting my case to a jury. This is an investigation. I think that needs to be done and there needs to be more questions being asked. Why were those who knew clearly the trades were happening even before the posts? Trillions of dollars just exchanged hands and often it was the people taking the money out of their 529s for their college kids so that they could afford to live because they were losing all of his money and then getting the wealth being redistributed back to the you get what's going on? Well hit subscribe let's get to 5 million subscribers.
- [21:20]
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- [21:28]
Elizabeth Warren
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