Suspicions are growing that Trump may have manipulated the markets.

Washington"This is a great time to buy!!! DJT," wrote US President Donald Trump on Truth Social on Wednesday morning. The Republican was encouraging his followers to buy shares in the stock market at one of its lowest moments in the dark week he himself had caused with the trade war. The acronym DJT, beyond standing for Donald John Trump, is also the code under which Truth Social's parent company (Trump Media & Technology Group) is listed on the stock market and where he has a large part of his net worth investedFour hours later, through another post on the same platform, the magnate announced the partial pause in tariffs and Wall Street experienced a historic comebackSuspicions about whether Trump has manipulated the markets in favor of himself, his family members, or related businessmen and politicians have only grown since then.

Especially since Wednesday was one of the best days on the stock market for billionaires: the world's richest people added $304 billion to their net worth, according to Bloomberg, which points to it as the largest single-day gain in the history of the Bloomberg index.

Elon Musk's company, Tesla, was the big winner of the day. According to Bloomberg, Musk increased his fortune by $36 billion after the electric car company's shares rose 23%. Next on the list is Mark Zuckerberg, who gained almost $26 billion after Meta's shares soared. Nvidia's Jensen Huang saw his wealth increase by $15.5 billion thanks to a 19% surge in the chipmaker's shares, nearly offsetting a 13% drop through Tuesday's close.

In Congress, Democrats have already sent a letter to the director of the Office of Government Ethics requesting an investigation into whether any member of the White House or the Trump family had access to inside information about the president's planned trades to buy or sell shares on the stock market. The letter was sent to the office on Thursday by Senators Ruben Gallego and Adam Schiff.

"The president, his family, and his advisors are positioned to access and leverage non-public information to inform their investment decisions. For example, shares of Elon Musk's company, Tesla, rose 18% immediately after the president's announcement to halt most tariffs." exposes the letter, which once again highlights the conflict of interest that Musk's presence in the White House represents. At Thursday's cabinet meeting, the world's richest man sat at the table, elbow to elbow, with the other secretaries of the government. As if he were just another executive branch, although formally he isn't.

Petition to ban investments by congressmen

Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shared a chart on X showing the Nasdaq stock market skyrocketing minutes before Trump announced the tariff pause. "Any member of Congress who has purchased stock in the last 48 hours should probably disclose it now. I've heard some interesting comments on the House floor," Ocasio-Cortez wrote in the post, where she demanded "a ban on insider trading in Congress." The congresswoman noted that May 15 is the deadline for members of Congress to disclose information related to stock purchases. "We're about to find out some things," she asserted.