Mr. Trump also has ties to the prediction market industry. His son Donald Trump Jr. is an adviser to Kalshi and Polymarket, and the Trump family’s social media company last year announced plans for a prediction market service.
Davis Ingle, a White House spokesman, denied that Mr. Trump or any administration official had used nonpublic information for financial benefit.
“President Trump has been crystal clear: While he seeks a strong and profitable stock market for everyone, members of Congress and other government officials should be prohibited from using nonpublic information for financial benefit,” Mr. Ingle said in a statement.
He added: “All federal employees are subject to government ethics guidelines that prohibit the use of nonpublic information for financial benefit. However, any implication that administration officials are engaged in such activity without evidence is baseless.”
Insider trading laws criminalize policymakers’ profiting from insider trading, but with significant loopholes.
Public officials are not, for example, explicitly restricted from betting on prediction markets, which effectively involves wagering on whether a future event will occur. Some wagers have predicted consequential world events, including some as extreme as the possibility of a nuclear war. Polymarket, one of the largest prediction markets, removed a market that traded on the likelihood of a nuclear detonation, amid public scrutiny after the U.S. and Israel began bombing Iran.
Lawmakers are pushing legislation that would bar any public official from placing those bets using nonpublic information they learn in their roles. One bill would impose fines up to $500 or double the profit made on the bet for violations.
CNN reported last month that federal prosecutors have met with Polymarket to discuss how insider trading laws apply to its bets.
Tyler Pager contributed reporting.
