The insider trading suspicions looming over Trump's presidency

Insider Trading Allegations and Evidence

• Many commenters see the trading patterns around Trump-era announcements as obviously indicative of illegal insider trading, especially given spikes minutes before market-moving posts or interviews.
• Others are skeptical, noting the article shows correlation but no identified leakers, traced communications, or named individuals.
• Some point out that sophisticated or algorithmic traders can legitimately profit from volatility and Trump’s predictability without inside information.
• There’s interest in whether any leaks concern the precise timing of announcements, which would be harder to explain as prediction alone.

Pardons, Immunity, and Lack of Accountability

• Several argue that insider trading and related corruption are unlikely to be punished due to presidential pardon power and recent Supreme Court rulings expanding presidential immunity.
• Some claim this creates a “kleptocracy” in which the president can both commit crimes and shield accomplices.
• Others emphasize that pardons apply only to federal offenses, leaving state-level prosecutions theoretically possible, but still seen as politically unlikely.
• Impeachment and Senate conviction are cited as the only real check, but considered practically unattainable given partisan incentives.

Media Coverage, “Suspicions,” and Legal Constraints

• The BBC article’s cautious language (“suspicions,” “hallmarks”) is criticized as “performative neutrality” and “sanewashing” that downplays apparent wrongdoing.
• Counterarguments stress presumption of innocence and the need for journalists to avoid outright declarations of guilt before legal findings, especially under stricter UK defamation standards.
• There’s disagreement over how different UK and US libel laws really are, and how much evidence journalists must have before characterizing conduct as criminal.

Structural Corruption and Reform Ideas

• Many see insider trading as part of broader systemic corruption: money in politics, revolving doors, and lack of consequences after crises (e.g., 2008).
• Proposed fixes: banning individual stock trading for elected and appointed officials (with doubts about enforcement via family/friends), public campaign financing, electoral reforms (score voting, recalls, national ballot questions, “no confidence” option).
• Some hope a post-Trump backlash will curb presidential powers; others note past failures to do so and predict continuity.

Cynicism, Apathy, and Resistance

• Strong currents of pessimism: belief that “nothing will happen,” cult-of-personality politics, and captured institutions.
• A minority urges non-acquiescence and creative civic pressure, including protest, while others advise focusing on problems individuals can realistically affect.