• Markets tumbled — and then soared — on Trump's tariff announcements in the last two weeks.
• Now, Democrats are suggesting Trump engaged in market manipulation and insider trading.
• Lawmakers and Cabinet officials have weeks to disclose any trades they made in the last week.

As the stock market began to slide in the wake of President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariff announcement, Sen. Bernie Moreno offered a suggestion: Buy the dip.

"I would go out and buy stocks today," the Ohio Republican told reporters the day after Trump announced a 10% baseline tariff and a host of steeper "reciprocal" tariffs on dozens of countries. "Lots of opportunity, lots of companies that have great valuation. There's no reason that Apple stock should be down."

Moreno's financial advice may have been a bit early — the market tumbled even further in the days after he made those remarks — but broadly, he was correct. Stock markets regained much of their prior value after Trump announced on Wednesday that much of his tariffs would be paused for 90 days.

Now, some Democrats are lobbing accusations of insider trading and market manipulation, pointing to Trump's declaration earlier that morning that it was a "great time to buy." In letters to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Office of Government Ethics, Democratic senators have argued that the president or others close to him may have bought up stock with the knowledge that markets were about to rebound due to a tariff pause.

"We need to get to the bottom of the possible stock manipulation that is unfolding before the American people," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters on Thursday.

The White House, for its part, is denying the allegations.

"It is the responsibility of the President of the United States to reassure the markets and Americans about their economic security in the face of nonstop media fearmongering," White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement. "Democrats railed against China's cheating for decades, and now they're playing partisan games instead of celebrating President Trump's decisive action yesterday to finally corner China."

There's not yet any evidence that any Trump allies traded on prior knowledge of the president's announcement, and we may not have a full picture of which politicians even bought the dip until mid-to-late May. Members of Congress and executive branch officials, including cabinet members, have 45 days to disclose any stock trades they've made.

Some are calling on their colleagues to come clean before then. "Any member of Congress who purchased stocks in the last 48 hours should probably disclose that now," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York wrote on X. "You might as well get it out into the public domain now because it's coming later, and there's nothing that you can do about it," Jeffries said.

'We're not here to feed at the trough'

One lawmaker who has already disclosed purchasing stocks during the dip: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of Trump's staunchest allies in Congress.

On Monday, the Georgia Republican plunged somewhere between $19,000 and $285,000 into the stock market, buying up shares in 17 different companies — including Apple — in the day's after Trump's announcement. Many of those stocks have enjoyed a net gain since then.

In a statement to BI, Greene said that her trades had been made by someone else on her behalf. She also dismissed the idea of putting her assets into a blind trust, as some ethics-minded lawmakers advocate.

"After many successful years of running my own business, I ran for Congress to bring that mindset to Washington. Now that I'm proudly serving the people of Northwest Georgia, I have signed a fiduciary agreement to allow my financial advisor to control my investments," Greene said. "All of my investments are reported with full transparency. I refuse to hide my stock trades in a blind trust like many others do."

The episode has once again brought the issue of stock trading in Congress to the fore. The trades made by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband have long been a source of controversy, and for years, lawmakers in both parties have been trying to ban the practice.

"Frankly, I don't care if Democrats did it, I don't care if Republicans did it, we're not here to feed at the trough," Ocasio-Cortez said. "There is either an appearance or, at worst, an active intent when you have this conflict of interest."

Many lawmakers have run for office in recent years on banning stock trading, or have voluntarily opted not to trade themselves. That includes Moreno, who told BI this week that he ultimately didn't take his own advice.

"I don't buy stocks," Moreno said, adding that during his 2024 Senate campaign, he agreed to sell off his stocks "so that we wouldn't have uncomfortable, weird conversations like this."

Sen. Josh Hawley told BI that the controversy was all the more reason to pass his bill to ban not just lawmakers, but executive branch officials from trading stocks. "That would take care of most of those concerns," he said.

Still, the Missouri Republican was dismissive of the actual claims of insider trading.

"The President didn't decide what he was going to do until he did it," Hawley said. "This idea that it's some elaborate insider scheme? Democrats have too much time on their hands."

• Some Republicans have signed onto bills or efforts to limit Trump's tariff powers.
• At a dinner with House Republicans on Tuesday, Trump fired back with mockery.
• "Congress takes over negotiating, sell America fast, because you're going to go busted," he said.

President Donald Trump has had enough of Republicans on Capitol Hill who are attempting to rein in his tariff powers.

At a fundraising dinner for House Republicans' campaign arm on Tuesday night, Trump openly mocked lawmakers in his own party who have sought to assert Congress's authority over trade.

"I'm telling you, these countries are calling us up, kissing my ass," Trump told a room full of House Republicans. "And then I'll see some rebel Republican, you know, some guy that wants to grandstand, say, 'I think that Congress should take over negotiations.'"

"Let me tell you, you don't negotiate like I negotiate," Trump continued. "Congress takes over negotiating, sell America fast, because you're going to go busted."

Last week, four GOP senators — including former Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell — voted for a resolution that would block Trump from imposing tariffs on Canada. Separately, seven GOP senators have signed onto a bill to require Congress to approve any new tariffs within 60 days.

Both efforts have little chance of becoming law, and if they reached Trump's desk, he could issue a veto. Still, both have exposed underlying rifts among Republicans on Trump's approach to trade.

On Tuesday night, Trump seemed to refer to GOP congressmen who had signed onto the House version of the tariff approval bill, which so far includes Reps. Don Bacon of Nebraska and Jeff Hurd of Colorado.

"I just saw it today, a couple of your congressman said, 'I think we should get involved in the negotiation of the tariffs,' Trump said in a mocking tone. "That's what I need. I need some guy telling me how to negotiate. I tell you, the happiest people in the world would be China."

Trump also said that Republicans pushing for a greater role for Congress in trade were undermining his administration's ongoing negotiations with countries on trade.

"Even the concept of it hurts your negotiation," Trump said. "When they see a little story like that, the other side, you know, it hurts your negotiation. And then the fake news wants to build it up, and it has no chance anyway."

• Donald Trump's aggressive tariff strategy has caused the market and consumers to recoil in shock.
• While the market contracts, one niche segment may have a narrow opening: regional winemakers.
• Some producers may see a renaissance as consumers look for alternatives to their imported favorites.

Alcohol consumption is down across the board, and President Donald Trump's aggressive tariff strategy has struck a hard blow to the US economy, causing the market and consumers to recoil in shock. However, 2025 may not be a total loss for one niche segment in the booze industry.

Small California winemakers are waiting with bated breath to see if they could be one of the few lucky winners of Trump's unconventional trade policy.

"There's a potential upside for us here," Nicholas Miller, the vice president of sales and marketing for Miller Family Wine Company, told Business Insider. "The US wine industry has been in a cycle of being severely oversupplied for the last couple of years — but that's also been when there's a big global market coming in."

As the largest global consumer market for wine, the US is among the most desirable locations for any producer looking to sell their goods, Miller said. Hence, the market has, in recent years, been oversaturated by imported wines. But Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs slapped blanket 10% fees on any goods imported into the country — 20% from major wine importers like Italy and France — and Miller said that could "level the playing field" for domestic vintners.

"If tariffs do indeed slow down imports and make them less competitive, I can see that there would be an upside for domestic wines in that case," Miller said.

Industry insiders told Business Insider that ultra-premium wine producers likely won't see the same potential benefits from Trump's tariff plan that lower-tier producers might because too much of their business lies in exports, which have been disrupted. The wealthiest buyers also likely won't be significantly deterred by price hikes on their favorite French and Italian imports or will drink from their private reserves while waiting for the trade madness to subside.

"For the high-end collector, the wine connoisseur, someone with a high wine IQ, for them, those flavors are not fungible," Miller said. "Their favorite is not replaced by a domestic wine just because it's the same price point."

Similarly, bottom-tier suppliers may lose some business because the lowest-income households could simply stop buying any wine, as it's a luxury they don't need amid the economic turmoil. Still, mid-range varietals, like those abundant in California, have a narrow opportunity to gain ground, both in direct sales and tourism to the region.

"I feel like if people are pulling their purse strings because of their worries about the economy, then they would typically — and we saw this certainly during COVID but for other different reasons — choose to come to Santa Barbara County versus taking European vacations," Scott Bull, owner of Sustainable Wine Tours in Santa Barbara, California, told BI. "If we're talking about wine enthusiasts in general, we've seen they will turn to the California market to visit their local backyard rather than taking these extravagant trips."

A boon for mid-market producers

California produces an average of 81% of total US wine, employs 1.1 million Americans, and generates $170.5 billion in annual economic activity across the country, according to data from the Wine Institute. The famous Napa Valley, located northeast of San Francisco, is a major tourism draw, as is Santa Barbara County on the Central Coast and the Southern California wine region of the Temecula Valley.

"For us, certainly during COVID, and we're hoping maybe again now, is that we got the Los Angeles market and all these other people who typically would go overseas to look for those fine wines, instead coming into our backyard," Bull said. "And they realize that we have some extraordinary wines here that really offer the same type of quality or even higher quality, and that really offer everything they're looking for, from Burgundy to Bordeaux varietals. And so I think this could be that new introduction point."

Of course, Trump's tariffs do not mean it's all smooth sailing for mid-range producers. They still have to contend with the rising costs of imported goods they rely on for production — barrels, corks, and glass for their wine bottles are all seeing significant price jumps — and their export businesses are on the rocks.

"The tariffs have also killed any chance of exporting for domestic wine producers," Mike Officer, cofounder of Carlisle Winery, an ultra-premium Sonoma County zinfandel producer, told Business Insider. "After California, Canada and Denmark were our largest distribution channels. Those markets no longer exist for us."

Still, Trump's tariffs still represent a window of opportunity for some regional winemakers.

"I do think, potentially, the sweet spot is for that mid-market producer," Miller said. "For the largest players in central California, there also could be an opportunity open up the market where previously they were getting undercut."

The opportunity may not be limited to California winemakers. Other regional consumer goods, often regarded as modest luxuries compared to mass-produced big-brand products or fancy artisan imports — like Hawaiian coffee — could also see an increase in consumer interest amid Trump's burgeoning trade war.

Alexandre Bossard, the general manager of Kauai Coffee, told BI the current global trade dynamics represent "both challenges and opportunities" that Hawaiian coffee growers are monitoring closely.

And while it's too soon to know exactly how it will all shake out, California's regional winemakers are cautiously optimistic that they can avoid the worst impacts of Trump's trade war.

"It actually levels the playing field in a way that I think could be great for us," Bull said.