White House warns staff over insider trading after suspicious oil and stock bets before Trump’s Iran ceasefire announcement. Photo: Gemini.
The White House on Thursday sent a bombshell email to its staff after reports of insider trading emerged following the US President’s declaration of a ceasefire with Iran. White House warned that staff are using their positions improperly by placing bets in the futures markets. The Oval Office warned the staff against trading on betting platforms and the financial markets.
According to reports by Bloomberg and Reuters, the mail was sent to the staff on March 24.
The reports of insider trading were reported even before the Iran war as well. Reports say such malpractices took place when the US captured former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro from his office.
Reports say an anonymous Polymarket user made profits of $400,000 by betting on his removal.
Similarly, Polymarket users made profits who predicted the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in US-Israeli strikes. One user reportedly made a profit of $500,000 hours before the strike took place.
Reuters quoted a statement by White House spokesman Davis Ingle saying, “While he (Donald Trump) seeks a strong and profitable stock market for everyone, members of Congress and other government officials should be prohibited from using nonpublic information for financial benefit.”
Trump, on March 23, announced a ‘five-day break’ from his threats to destroy Iranian civilian infrastructure, including the power plants. In his social media post, he said that ‘productive conversations’ are taking place with Iran.
However, just 15 minutes before Trump announced the delay in strikes on his social media, oil stock futures in billions were traded in a few minutes. This shocked the crude market, and oil prices went down by 15%.
According to the report, 6,200 Brent and West Texas Intermediate futures contracts were traded in just 15 minutes before Trump posted on social media.
The stocks changed hands specifically between 6:49 am and 6:50 am New York time on March 23.
After the reports emerged, several market observers and US lawmakers are asking to investigate the charges of decisions that reflected insider trading.
Zubair Amin is a Senior Journalist at NewsX with over seven years of experience in reporting and editorial work. He has written for leading national and international publications, including Foreign Policy Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Wire, Article 14, Mongabay, News9, among others. His primary focus is on international affairs, with a strong interest in US politics and policy. He also writes on West Asia, Indian polity, and constitutional issues. Zubair tweets at zubaiyr.amin
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