President Donald Trump expressed his openness on Wednesday to supporting a ban on government officials’ abilities to stock trade.
Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley joined Democrats on Wednesday to advance his legislation, the Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments (PELOSI) Act, which intends to ban members of Congress, the president and the vice president from buying, selling or owning individual stocks. Trump told Daily Caller White House correspondent Reagan Reese that he approves of the legislation “conceptually” and called on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to be investigated over her stock trading practices.
“I like it conceptually. I don’t know about it, but I like it conceptually. And you know, Nancy Pelosi became rich by having inside information. She made a fortune with her husband, and I think that’s disgraceful,” Trump said. “So in that sense, I’d like it. But I study these things very carefully, and this just happened. So, I’ll take a look at it. But conceptually I like it and what I do think is that Nancy Pelosi should be investigated because she has the highest return of anybody, practically, in the history of Wall Street. Save a few and how did that happen? It happened by she knows exactly what’s gonna happen, she buys stock and then the stock goes up after the announcement is made. And she ought to be investigated.”