Media: Over a dozen U.S. officials sold stocks before Trump announced tariffs

Over a dozen senior government officials and congressional aides in the U.S. sold stocks before President Donald Trump announced a global tariff regime that sent the stock market into a tailspin, a U.S. media outlet reported.

Among them were a State Department official and a key official from the agency responsible for crafting the administration's trade policy, both of whom sold tens of thousands of dollars in stock briefly before April 2, when Trump announced a string of tariffs on most of the U.S.' trading partners, according to ProPublica, which reviewed disclosures across the government.

A White House lawyer unloaded shares in nine firms before Trump unveiled another significant trade move, it said.

All of these trades were made just ahead of major government announcements or developments likely to impact stock prices, with some converting their gains from individual stocks or broad market funds into safer assets like bonds or treasuries, while others appeared to have held their proceeds in cash, the report said.

(Cover: A monitor displays stock market information on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., April 21, 2025. /VCG)