The documents reveal that Donald Trump’s deputy White House chief of staff, Dan Scabino, sold up to $5 million worth of Trump media stock just before the president announced tariffs in April.
US tariffs will come into effect on August 1st
The president said most tariff transactions should take place by July 9th, but not valid until August 1st.
Dan Scavino has been in the process of selling up to $5 million worth of Trump Media stock after joining President Donald Trump’s administration in January as vice-Chief of Staff.
However, according to a disclosure report obtained by USA Today, Trump’s advisors chose April 1 the day before Trump announced he would make the sale to make the sale.
After the market closed on April 2nd, Trump announced tariffs on imports from countries around the world. The market plunged into the news, falling 12% by April 9, when Trump suspended tariffs. Trump’s media stock has also dropped by 11%.
The disclosure declaration also shows that Sergio Gaul, director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office, sold Trump Media Securities for between $15,001 and $50,000 on March 27, just days before the tariffs were announced.
White House Taylor Rogers responded to questions about the timing of the sale, saying “Senior White House staff, including Associate Director Scabino and PPO Director GOR, are fully compliant with the enforcement department’s ethics rules, participate in the required ethics summary, and comply with profit disputes and financial reporting obligations.”
After Trump’s announcement about what he called “liberation day,” there was a widespread market sale that lasted until April 9, when tariffs were suspended. Since then, the market has rebounded, recovering these losses and hitting record highs. However, Trump Media stocks are still falling from the price of $20.26 per share on April 1st. The shares closed on July 8th at $19.25 per share.
The Congressional Knowledge or Stock Trading Suspension Act of 2012 prohibits federal and Congress officials from trading securities based on non-public information. Authorities must disclose trading activities when buying and selling securities worth more than $1,000.
“We must look at stock transactions by senior White House staff over the period just before the announcement of the release date,” said Virginia Kanter, lead lawyer for Defenders Action, a group co-founded by former Obama Ethics official Norman Eisen.
“The facts and circumstances surrounding the transaction determine whether an insider trading investigation is valuable,” said Kanter, former White House deputy lawyer for President Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.
USA Today found no evidence that Scavino or Gor had prior knowledge of the tariff announcement. But ethics experts say trade approaches a major news event from the White House, they raise ethical issues and concerns about fraud.
“White House officials are supposed to avoid even the emergence of conflicts of interest, but owning or selling shares in the incumbent president’s media company is the exact opposite,” said Cynthia Brown, senior citizen ethics advisor for responsibility and ethics, a progressive Watchdog nonprofit.
Usually, a well-timed trade allows individuals to reduce losses and reinvest their revenues with less risky investments.
Ethics experts have long advocated stricter rules for stock trading by government officials. This includes requirements for placing holdings in blind trusts and allowing only highly diverse index funds to be held.
Because of their position, officials are always aware of private information, but experts say it is difficult to prove whether that knowledge will inform the movement of the transaction.
The Government Ethics spokesman’s Office said the office could not comment specifically on transactions by Scabino, GOR or other officials.
“Oge will issue ethics disclosures, related documents and website surveillance responses as soon as possible,” said spokesman Patrick Shepherd.
With the sale of Scavino and Gor, three Trump administration officials sold from the president’s social media company, selling just before the announcement of tariffs caused a broader stock market sale.
Attorney General Pam Bondy disclosed a sale of up to $5 million on Trump Media on April 2. After the market closed that day, a tariff announcement was made.
Propublica first reported the sale in May. The Department of Justice did not respond to requests for comment from multiple media outlets at the time.
In Bondi’s case, she was obliged to sell her shares within 90 days of confirmation by the Senate, subject to the terms of the ethics agreement with the Government Ethics Bureau.
Financial disclosures by these officials also confirmed that the president brought people into his administration, where he worked for his publicly listed company. For example, Scavino worked as a consultant for the company from 2021 to January 2025 and received a consulting fee of $860,000.
“These disclosures show that the investments of Trump’s senior advisers are tied to his superior’s media company,” says Brown, a civic ethics advisor for responsibility and ethics.
“It may not be forbidden by law, but coupled with the extent to which Trump’s media is integrated into the administration’s agenda, I ask the question of whether this is another mechanism for the president and his advisors to personally benefit financially from the government’s agenda,” Brown said.
The president himself has billions in the stock market through his cryptocurrency venture and social media company Truth Social. Bloomberg News reported in May that the president’s net worth more than doubled since reelection to about $5.4 billion.
His recent financial disclosures revealed that he has won millions of crypto venture ventures and earned royalties from selling Bibles and watches.
