‘Wolf of Wall Street’ Jordan Belfort has told Sky News there’s “no way” Donald Trump is guilty of insider trading or market manipulation.
Opponents say the president has questions to answer after he said it was a “great time to buy” shares – four hours before the stock market surged on Wednesday when he paused tariffs.
Mr Belfort told Gillian Joseph the fact Mr Trump made the statement on social media meant it was public, rather than him tipping off a few people.
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Speaking on The World programme, Mr Belfort said: “I personally don’t find it overly suspicious. Especially since he’s told it to everybody at once.
“If he hadn’t said anything and told five of his best friends ‘I’m gonna ease this tariff situation – you should be buying’, that would be illegal.”
Insider trading is when people take advantage of non-public information to buy or sell shares and make a gain.
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The former stockbroker was famously played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the film about his early life and admitted crimes related to stock manipulation.
Mr Belfort said Mr Trump’s post was just repeating what the president had said previously, and that buying when share prices plunge is a well-known investment move.
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“He had been saying that all along [to buy], it wasn’t the only time he’d said that,” said Mr Belfort.
“[Treasury] Secretary Bessent had been saying that too. It’s a really basic piece of advice.”
Stock markets around the world plunged dramatically on Monday due to the start of America’s wide-ranging tariffs on imports from around the world.
The world economy was rattled again just two days later when the president said nearly all of the taxes would go on hold for 90 days.
The key S&P 500 index jumped nearly 10% – a huge daily increase.
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Rival Democrat politicians say Mr Trump‘s encouragement to buy raises “grave ethics concerns”.
Some are calling for an urgent inquiry into whether any of his family or administration officials benefited by dealing in the stock market ahead of time.
The White House said the president’s post was simply reassuring Americans “about their economic security in the face of nonstop media fearmongering”.
Mr Belfort accused Democrat figures of trying to “earn brownie points with the media and their party”.
‘Not gonna be pretty’
Despite the mid-week surge, turbulence in stock markets appears far from over – chiefly because China and the US remain locked in a tariffs stare down.
American indexes closed down again on Thursday, Japan’s Nikkei fell about 5% early on Friday, and Hong Kong stocks are heading for their worst week since 2008.
Gold meanwhile, considered a “safe haven” asset, has climbed to a record price and earlier today passed the $3,200/oz level for the first time.
Mr Belfort told Sky News that while he was against tariffs generally, President Trump’s dramatic intervention was necessary as the US has an “insane” trade imbalance and imports far more than it exports.
“The United States has been drained of its wealth, drained of its factories,” he said.
“It’s not gonna be pretty,” added Mr Belfort. “There’s going to be pain – but the path we were on before is simply unsustainable. It had to change.”
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He said he was sceptical over fears the tariffs will hit US consumers hard, with some predicting goods – including popular items such as the iPhone – could jump in price if costs are passed on.
The former trader said he believes firms would shift production from China, which is subject to a tariff of more than 100%, to places such as India, and that exemptions would eventually be agreed.
He also gave the thumbs up to Elon Musk‘s controversial government efficiency role which has forced thousands of jobs cut.
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“I love what is being done because the amount of abuse and waste and fraud, it’s absolutely insane,” said Mr Belfort.
“It’s a great thing that’s happening. Obama talked about doing it, Clinton tried it; this is not a new idea to try to make the government more efficient.”
If Mr Musk leaves or quits in the near future, as is rumoured, Mr Belfort said the world’s richest man has installed “some very seasoned business people that really care about the country”.
