Cory Booker insists there's 'enough smoke' to investigate Trump on insider trading with tariff reversal

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., was pressed on NBC News’ “Meet the Press" about Democratic efforts to investigate President Donald Trump over his tariff shift.

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"Meet the Press" host Kristen Welker pressed Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., Sunday on whether there’s any real evidence to investigate President Donald Trump over what Democrats have alleged was "insider trading" with his tariff reversal.

Trump announced a 90-day pause in the massive tariff hikes he levied against foreign nations on Wednesday, excluding China. Hours before his announcement, he took to Truth Social to tell his followers that "everything is going to work out well" and it was a "great time to buy" stock after the significant drops it suffered over the past week.

Several Democratic senators have since accused Trump of market manipulation and insider trading based on his sudden reversal after he previously insisted that he would not budge on the tariffs.

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Welker questioned Booker on Sunday about whether there was solid evidence for the charge beyond Trump’s Truth Social post.

"Do you believe that Democrats have any real evidence that anyone in the administration profited off of the president’s policies and announcements, or is this just a fishing expedition?" Welker asked.

"You know, here’s the problem with Donald Trump and congressional Republicans. It is our whole system was designed to have checks and balances," Booker responded. "Now, Trump has designed an administration like none we’ve ever seen before. He is attacking the very agencies that are supposed to have independent oversight of these kinds of actions."

Booker went on to argue that Congress needs to uphold its role in holding the president accountable, only for Welker to interrupt and repeat her question. 

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"But is there any evidence?" Welker interrupted. "Do you think there’s any evidence that anyone profited off of these tariffs?"

"There is enough of an offense here. There’s enough smoke here that should demand congressional hearings," Booker said.

He added that there are "real, legitimate, justifiable" questions regarding Trump’s actions and claimed Congress would be "spineless and submissive" if it does not hold hearings on the matter.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for a comment.

Multiple Democratic senators, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission encouraging the commission to investigate Trump for market manipulation. 

"We urge the SEC to investigate whether the tariff announcements, which caused the market crash and subsequent partial recovery, enriched administration insiders and friends at the expense of the American public and whether any insiders, including the President’s family, had prior knowledge of the tariff pause that they abused to make stock trades ahead of the President’s announcement," the Senate Democrats wrote in their letter to SEC Chair Paul Atkins on Friday.

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Lindsay Kornick is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to lindsay.kornick@fox.com and on Twitter: @lmkornick.

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