Did Trump’s “Liberation Day” Flip-Flop Make Congress Millions?

On April 2nd, President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs under the banner of “Liberation Day,” triggering a dramatic market sell-off. Amid the turmoil, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene reported a flurry of stock purchases, raising accusations of insider trading and prompting calls for an investigation from figures like Congressman Robert Garcia.

However, the timeline tells a more nuanced story. Records show Greene’s trades occurred on April 2nd and 3rd, right after the tariffs were introduced but well before Trump’s sudden reversal on April 9th. Her picks—Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN:US), Dell Technologies Inc. (DELL:US), Lululemon Athletica Inc. (LULU:US), and Restoration Hardware (RH:US)—had all dropped sharply, with some down as much as 40%. While the purchases may seem well-timed in retrospect, many of the stocks continued to fall after her trades, and most have yet to recover meaningfully.

Greene stated that her financial advisor made the trades under a fiduciary agreement and emphasized that they were reported in accordance with disclosure rules. Still, the optics of a member of Congress buying into a volatile market while the public panicked understandably sparked outrage. The fact that she disclosed the trades on April 8th, just a day before Trump’s pause, only fueled suspicion, despite the transactions occurring several days earlier.

Some of her holdings, like RH, bounced after Trump’s reversal, but overall, her portfolio is not clearly in the black. Because lawmakers are only required to report trade ranges, not exact amounts, there’s no way to know her real exposure—or her gains.

Greene’s rising net worth, now reportedly around $22 million, adds to the controversy, as does her sometimes cavalier public behavior. A now-deleted birthday post asking followers to send her son beer money via Venmo drew widespread criticism, especially during a time of economic uncertainty.

While Greene remains the only member of Congress to report trades during this volatile window, others may still be within the 45-day reporting window. Broader concerns over congressional stock trading have reignited, with calls for reform growing louder. As Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez put it, the issue isn’t partisan—it’s about trust and the appearance of integrity.

What’s arguably more alarming than Greene’s trades is Trump’s unpredictable policymaking. After spending days insisting tariffs were permanent, he reversed course on April 9th. Billionaires reportedly gained $304 billion that day, the largest one-day gain ever recorded by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Trump, meanwhile, celebrated the rally in the Oval Office, crediting his decision-making.

Though accusations against Greene continue, there’s little concrete evidence she acted on inside information. If anything, the real market manipulation may have come from the White House. As long as financial markets remain vulnerable to political whims and lawmakers can legally trade on policy impact, public skepticism won’t go away anytime soon.