A single false tweet on Monday morning caused significant stock market movement, with trillions of dollars changing hands in just 15 minutes. This incident is among the top five most absurd events to have occurred since Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
The ease with which financial crimes can be committed and gone unpunished has been a concern for months. However, recent days of stock turmoil have highlighted this issue even more. Aspiring financial criminals should take note that these are the “halcyon days.”
According to Kevin Hassett, Trump’s economic adviser, he defended the president’s decision to implement tariffs on goods like T-shirts. Aaron Rupar shared a clip of the interview on his social media accounts, which sparked a false tweet claiming that Trump was considering a 90-day tariff pause.
The tweet, made by an unremarkable White House staffer with millions of followers, contained incorrect information and caused significant market movement. This incident is different from typical cases of market manipulation and insider trading, which usually center around individual stocks.
However, in this case, the entire world stock market depends on one person’s view of trade protectionism. If enough traders believe that Trump had the right thought, they can move the entire market and profit from a well-timed purchase of a broad-market index fund.
Trump’s administration is filled with billionaires who know how to capitalize on market opportunities. White House staffers and Cabinet members with knowledge of upcoming announcements should take advantage of this situation. Trump has pardoned numerous financial criminals in the past, which may embolden others to commit similar crimes.
The lack of accountability for financial crimes committed by those in Trump’s inner circle is alarming. A recent financial disclosure from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick shows that he owns a significant amount of S&P 500 index funds, which could benefit from an eventual Trump announcement claiming victory and rolling back some tariffs.
While ideal solutions would be for laws to apply equally to all citizens and for the market not to depend on the president’s whims, these conditions are not currently being met. This creates a unique moneymaking opportunity for enterprising individuals who can take advantage of this situation.
Source: https://slate.com/business/2025/04/stock-market-monday-morning-oops-financial-crime.html