CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin has raised serious concerns about potential insider trading within Donald Trump’s administration. On Squawk Box, Sorkin grilled Mark Uyeda, the acting chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), over whether government officials may have exploited their knowledge of upcoming tariffs to make profitable stock trades.
Sorkin questioned Uyeda about the SEC’s responsibility in enforcing insider trading laws, particularly after Trump announced sweeping tariffs last week. He specifically asked if anyone within the government who sold stocks before the tariff announcement could be held accountable.
“Given what the government’s been doing and this administration’s been doing, it would not shock me, and I hate to speculate, if we were to find out that a whole bunch of people who work in Washington as our elected leaders one way or the other, ultimately sold stocks last week, or potentially worse than that, shorted the market,” Sorkin said. “My question to you is: What you think the responsibility of the SEC is in those contexts?”
Sorkin’s pointed questioning comes at a time when the stock market has been in turmoil, with experts predicting a recession, even as government officials try to downplay the risks.
Uyeda, who was appointed by Trump in January, reassured Sorkin that the SEC would enforce the law equally, whether the accused is a government official or not.
“We have a very clearly established body of law for those who engage in acts that are prohibited by the insider trading rules,” Uyeda responded.
Sorkin pressed further, asking if selling stocks based on early knowledge of the tariffs would qualify as insider trading. “If somebody had access to the list of—the tariff plan the day before the plan and decided to sell out of equities, or to short the market, or to do something else that I haven’t thought about, right? Would that be considered inside information to you?” he asked.
“It potentially could,” Uyeda answered. “There are two basic duties, what we call the classic insider trading theory law, as well as the misappropriation theory of law. There are various elements of that. If those elements are satisfied, they can be subject to insider trading liability.”
Sorkin’s questioning has raised the stakes, putting a spotlight on whether Trump’s administration may have profited from inside knowledge, and whether the SEC will take action.
Watch the exchange in the video below form CNBC:
