Ending in embarrassing betrayal: Donald Trump’s ‘drain the swamp’ promise aged like his marriages

It’s no secret that people in both parties strongly support banning members of Congress from trading stocks. This belief comes from a desire for honesty and a rejection of the idea that elected officials should profit from their positions. Over the years, efforts to pass such a ban have been backed by a wide range of politicians, from progressive Democrats to conservative Republicans. Trump even called this “draining the swamp” when going for his election.

Still, even with this broad support, attempts to turn the idea into law have repeatedly failed to make it to a full vote in Congress. The current law, called the STOCK Act of 2012, was passed after it was revealed that lawmakers had made money using non-public information during major national events. According to MSNBC, this would be something like the 2008 financial crisis.

The law was meant to apply insider trading rules to Congress members and their staff while also requiring them to publicly report their trades on time. However, the STOCK Act has not worked well enough. Investigations have found that many lawmakers and their families have broken the law, with numerous cases of late disclosures and suspicious trades. All the while, there has been no word from the white house on when this will end.

Trump won’t drain any swamps, as politicians can keep trading with inside information

The problems with the STOCK Act are well known. A 2021 investigation found that dozens of lawmakers and their staff had not followed the law. Another report in 2022 showed how members of Congress and their relatives kept buying stocks in industries directly tied to their committee work. One example involved a Pennsylvania republican Mike Kelly, whose wife bought shares in a steel company in his district just one day after he learned about a coming government action to help the company.

Despite a committee urging Kelly to sell the ill-gotten stocks, Kelly said, “we got completely exonerated.” In other words, with Trump not taking any action, there’s no need to do the right thing or stop insider trading among politicians. The rules for reporting trades have been ignored so often that some call it ridiculous, with one Republican senator reporting hundreds of thousands of dollars in trades over a year and a half late.

Even with this explanation, Trump’s silence on the issue and his lack of active support for the ban say a lot. His past claims about “draining the swamp” do not match his actions or his growing personal wealth. During his presidency, he has made a lot more money, including a big increase in his net worth since starting his re-election campaign.

He has also gotten involved in controversial business deals, like cryptocurrency products, which have added billions to his family’s wealth. The fact that Trump is also using taxpayer money for a ballroom just for his ego. It is hard to imagine anyone changing the rules if those same rules made them rich, but some voters buy into it.