When one dismantles the safeguards against market manipulation, only to wield the levers of power for personal or political gain, one does not merely flirt with criminality, they embrace it with a kind of brazen, theatrical abandon. Donald Trump’s recent actions in the stock market exemplify this grotesque art of exploitation.

On Wednesday morning, Trump posted on Truth Social, urging his followers to buy stocks, declaring it “a great time to buy.” Hours later, he announced a pause on tariffs that sent markets soaring, recouping $4 trillion in lost value. The timing was suspiciously prescient, raising questions about whether insiders profited from foreknowledge of this pivot. Democrats like Elizabeth Warren, AOC and Adam Schiff have rightly called for investigations into potential insider trading and market manipulation within Trump’s orbit.

This is not mere opportunism; it is the deliberate orchestration of chaos for profit. Trump’s tariff flip-flopping has turned global markets into a casino where the house always wins, provided the house has advance notice of his whims. His refusal to divest from financial holdings and his ties to companies like Trump Media & Technology Group further muddy the waters, suggesting a conflict of interest that borders on kleptocracy.

Trump’s manipulation of markets is not just a scandal; it is an indictment of his economic philosophy. (or lack thereof) Unlike the free-market idealists who saw capitalism as a secular miracle, Trump’s approach is transactional and cynical. The market under his thumb becomes not a mechanism for growth but a stage for deception, a moment of truth followed by an eternity of lies. In this theater of corruption, the audience may cheer the temporary gains, but the price paid in trust and integrity is incalculable.