‘Fishing expedition?’ Cory Booker Grilled On Whether Dems Have Proof Of Trump Tariff Insider Trading

When pressed Sunday on whether he believes the Democrats have any evidence of profiteering linked to President Donald Trump’s tariff strategy, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), fresh off a record-breaking Senate speech criticizing the commander in chief, sidestepped the question while backing calls for an investigation.

On NBC’s “Meet The Press,” moderator Kristen Welker noted some Democrats are seeking an insider trading probe after Trump’s “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!” post, followed by a 90-day “pause” for countries targeted by the tariffs, except China, above a 10% baseline rate, and a Wall Street rebound.

“Do you believe that Democrats have any real evidence that anyone in the administration profited off of the president’s policies and announcements, or is this just a fishing expedition?” Welker asked Booker.

“You know, here’s the problem with Donald Trump and congressional Republicans, is our whole system was designed to have checks and balances,” Booker replied. “Now, Trump has designed an administration like none we’ve ever seen before. He is attacking the very agencies that are supposed to have independent oversight of these kind of actions. So, we see him hiring people based upon their loyalty, not based upon their expertise.”

The senator went on to say, “The real group that should be holding investigations and accountability and even just oversight, is Congress —”, before Welker interjected.

“But is there any evidence?” Welker asked. Booker sought to keep going, saying, “But for every outrageous thing he’s done —” and so did Welker, who followed up with the question: “Do you think there’s any evidence that anyone profited off of these tariffs?”

“There is enough of an offense here — there’s enough smoke here that should demand congressional hearings,” Booker said. “We are a separate and equal branch of government. The Constitution lays out very clearly that Congress is not supposed to be spineless and submissive. It is supposed to hold up oversight over the president. These are real, legitimate, justifiable questions, and not to have hearings, not to do any kind of oversight, undermines the faith we have in our government, undermines the trust we need in our nation right now.”