When Donald Trump’s top trade official was in the middle of testifying to Congress on Wednesday, the markets seemed to be in a free fall. Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade representative, was speaking to Congress only hours after Trump went on his social media platform and encouraged investors to buy stocks at low prices.

As Greer was testifying, something unexpected happened: The president announced a 90-day pause on sweeping global tariffs. After days of turmoil, the stock market began to soar. Congressional Democrats piled on to ask whether any Trump friends had received a secret tipoff about the tariff flip-flop.

“Who’s benefiting? What billionaire just got richer?” Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., asked Greer. As trade representative, a Cabinet-level position for setting trade policy, Greer defended Trump’s actions.

Greer, however, wasn’t the only one facing questions about who had benefited from the market volatility. Some members of Congress wondered aloud if any of their own colleagues on the Hill had made money on the crashing and rising stocks.

“Any member of Congress who purchased stocks in the last 48 hours should probably disclose that now,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said on X. “I’ve been hearing some interesting chatter on the floor.”

“Banning members from owning and trading individual stocks would be a clear signal that this kind of conduct is not acceptable.”

The speculation was part of renewed attention to several proposals to ban stock trading by members of Congress themselves. Such measures have struggled to advance on Capitol Hill despite overwhelming public support — with some advocates saying the time for Congress to act after years of dithering is now.

“Both President Trump’s conduct, and the concern that his political cronies in Congress and outside it are profiting from the president’s haphazard tariff policy are just another example of how the public is forced to question whether the president and members of Congress are putting their personal financial interest ahead of the public’s interest,” said Donald Sherman, the executive director and........

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