Insider Trading? Trump "Negotiation Statement" - Traders Go Short on Oil Fourteen Minutes Before, Reaping $60 Million in Profits

U.S. President Donald Trump recently made comments on Middle Eastern geopolitics, triggering intense fluctuations in international oil prices and the U.S. stock market. However, behind this market turbulence, a highly precise large-scale trade has raised strong suspicions of “insider trading.” Subsequently, a trader revealed on X how Wall Street exploited the time lag in political decisions and regulatory loopholes to conduct systematic arbitrage.

Trump Claims Peace Negotiations with Iran, International Oil Prices Drop Over 5%

On Tuesday, March 24, President Trump stated from the Oval Office that the U.S. is “currently negotiating with Iran” and noted that Tehran is eager to reach a peace agreement. Trump emphasized that, based on the ongoing negotiations, he decided to withdraw the threat of strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure. Once the news broke, the market responded quickly, with Brent crude futures plunging about 6%, now around $96 per barrel; U.S. WTI crude futures also fell about 5%.

Sudden Massive Trade: Precisely Going Long US Stocks and Short Oil

Just before Trump officially made the statement, unusual trading activity was detected. Data shows that within just five minutes before Trump announced he would cease attacking Iran, a massive and rare trade occurred. A trader bought $1.5 billion worth of S&P 500 futures (ES) and sold $192 million worth of oil (CL) futures. The size of these orders was four to six times higher than the typical market volume at that time. On social platform X, rumors spread that someone had placed bets worth hundreds of millions of dollars before Trump’s post, allegedly earning life-changing profits, directly pointing to blatant insider trading and corruption.

Trader: Profited $60 Million Using “TACO” Strategy

In response to the market frenzy, Peter Girnus, who claims to be the trader behind the transaction, recounted the entire process. He said he received a 90-second call at 6:47 a.m., then, at 6:50 a.m., during the quietest pre-market hours, he entered buy orders for $1.5 billion in S&P 500 futures and shorted $192 million in oil futures. Fourteen minutes later, Trump posted about peace negotiations on Truth Social. The S&P index immediately surged 2.5%, and oil prices plummeted 6%, allowing him to profit $60 million before most Americans’ alarms even went off.

“When you already know what’s going to happen next, 14 minutes is a long time,” Girnus described his mindset while waiting in front of three screens. He further explained that this type of operation is called “TACO” (Trump Always Chickens Out): typically, when tensions escalate on Friday and compromise occurs on Monday, traders profit from the time gap between decision-making and public announcements. He even has a Slack channel called “taco-tuesday” that automatically updates with new geopolitical keywords pushed by Truth Social.

Exposing U.S. Financial Regulatory Failures

Beyond the trading tactics, Girnus directly criticized the current state of regulation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). He pointed out that out of five commission seats, only one is filled, while the remaining four are deliberately left vacant—not because no candidates have applied, but because they are “intentionally cleared,” rendering the agency incapable of meaningful voting or investigation. Although the system flags these “abnormal trades,” the markings are merely procedural, with no substantive follow-up investigations.

He believes that the public’s perception of “insider trading” involves whispers at cocktail parties or buying and selling hundreds of shares, which can lead to prosecution. But what he did was conduct billions of dollars in trades in an environment where decision-makers have direct phone access, the market is almost unregulated, and the presidential social media accounts serve as the most powerful pricing mechanism. “This isn’t insider trading; this is infrastructure,” Girnus wrote at the end. “This game isn’t rigged because every part operates according to its design, including that call at 6:47 a.m. — I didn’t exploit a loophole. I am the system.”

This article, “Insider Trading? Trump Made Short Oil Positions 14 Minutes Before ‘Negotiation Statement,’ Trader Profited $60 Million,” originally appeared on Chain News ABMedia.