War Insider Trading Exposed - Warren GRILLS Hegseth Over Perfectly-Timed Trade

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:00]Uh, I'm also concerned about recent reporting on your own financial dealings with regard to profiting from the war in Iran. The Financial Times reported that your broker tried to buy hundreds of shares in a BlackRock fund invested in defense companies just before the war began.

[00:00:17]Senator Elizabeth Warren walked into that hearing with documented evidence about $500 million in suspicious oil bets placed just 14 minutes before war announcements and about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's own financial dealings. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth denied everything, but his own signed ethics agreement told a completely different story.

[00:00:40]Stay right here. Senator Warren Uh, thank you, Mr. Chairman. So, Americans are paying a high price for Donald Trump's war with Iran. We've got 14 service members who are dead, over 400 more who are wounded, uh, prices are rising for nearly every American family, but someone is profiting off Trump's war.

[00:01:03]Insiders who know what's going on and who place bets on that inside information. On March 23rd, just 14 minutes before Trump unexpectedly posted about, quote, "very good conversations on ending the war," traders suddenly bet $500 million on the price of oil, which, once Trump made his announcement, immediately dropped. It happened again on April 7th and then again on April 21st, a surge in oil bets, then a Trump post, and then a huge shift in oil prices in just the space of minutes. It looks like insiders have been making out like bandits using secret information about the war. Now, one US soldier has been charged, but that was for betting on capturing Maduro months ago. Not a single person has been charged in the many many many trades over the Middle East wars. So, Secretary Hagel said, "Do you have any explanation for these perfectly timed spikes in trading activity other than insider trading?"

[00:02:22]Um Senator, all I can tell you is that everything we've done in our department, everything we've done with information in working with the White House and across the inner agencies been completely above board.

[00:02:32]Well, so what does it mean? Do you have any other explanation other than insider trading? Do you have a story for why just minutes before there's an announcement there's a surge in trading activity?

[00:02:47]Uh Senator, I'm more than focused on doing my job and ensuring we execute properly, which thankfully under this administration uh our troops have done incredible things in all these missions.

[00:02:57]My job in all of those moments is to make sure we're prepared, and that's part of the reason why we've been so successful in these raids, in these efforts is that this joint force is here.

[00:03:06]>> saying you're not paying any attention to this insider trading. Is that what you're telling me? That you've paid no attention to this, you haven't noticed it, you haven't done anything about it?

[00:03:14]What I'm saying is we're focused on our mission of executing for the American people, and what happens in in markets is not uh in betting markets is not something we're involved in.

[00:03:23]>> What happens in betting markets doesn't matter to you even if the information may be coming from insiders in your office? Senator, it's not something we're involved in at all. And of course, we take operational security at every level very seriously. In fact, no one's taken operational security more uh seriously than us. If you look at what it required to keep secret Midnight Hammer and Operation Maduro, the absolute resolve with Maduro, and the steps we've taken, no one's been tighter about ensuring that operational security is ensured. with insider trading out of your office?

[00:04:01]I mean, we have we would ensure at every level that inside information is >> that as a no.

[00:04:06]>> properly safeguarded.

[00:04:07]>> Well, obviously you're not.

[00:04:09]Uh I'm also concerned about recent reporting on your own financial dealings with regard to profiting from the war in Iran. The Financial Times reported that your broker tried to buy hundreds of shares in a BlackRock fund invested in defense companies just before the war began. The law clearly prohibits the secretary >> That entire story is false, has been from the beginning, and was made up out of whole cloth. And anybody that looks at it sees how it was worded from the beginning to make it look like I was involved in something I had nothing to do and never have. So, any insinuation that I've ever profited, other than serving this nation, what what I give, what you give, what others give, I'm not looking for money. I don't do it for money. I don't do it for profit. I don't do it for stocks. And that's part of the reason why I'm able to be effective in this job, cuz no one owns me. No one owns this department. No one owns this president. And we can execute for the American people, and we do.

[00:05:02]>> law clearly prohibits the secretary of defense from owning stock in the 10 biggest defense contractors. Other senators and I sent you a letter with detailed questions about this, and you have not given us a response. So, I'd like to hear you say, did you, through your broker at Morgan Stanley or otherwise, seek to invest in any defense-related funds right before Trump started the Iran war?

[00:05:31]I'll give it to you as a big, fat negative.

[00:05:35]>> Then let me ask you a second question.

[00:05:37]Is your broker getting your personal sign-off on any investment in individual stocks >> Bigger, fatter negative.

[00:05:46]>> He's not getting your sign-off before he makes investments in defense stocks? Can I refer you to your I'm not making investments, Senator.

[00:05:54]>> I'm asking, does he know that he has to get your sign off before he does that?

[00:05:59]>> Of course. I don't know what you're looking for, but you can find it.

[00:06:02]Thank you. Thank you, Senator. Uh I would like to enter into the record the ethics agreement that the Secretary of Defense has signed that he will sign off personally before his broker makes any attempt to buy defense stocks.

[00:06:18]>> Is there objection? Thank you.

[00:06:20]>> Without objection, it will be admitted.

[00:06:23]Uh Let us break this down carefully because Senator Elizabeth Warren laid out one of the most serious allegations to come out of any congressional hearing in recent memory. And Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's responses made everything worse. Senator Elizabeth Warren is not someone who walks into a hearing unprepared.

[00:06:43]She is a former law professor, a former presidential candidate, and one of the sharpest financial minds in the United States Senate.

[00:06:51]When she starts asking questions about money, about markets, about trading patterns, she already has the receipts.

[00:06:59]So, let us start with what she actually put on the table.

[00:07:03]14 service members are dead. Over 400 more are wounded. Prices are rising for nearly every American family. And yet, someone is profiting from this war.

[00:07:14]Senator Elizabeth Warren laid out a very specific pattern of trades happening right before major public announcements about the war in Iran on March 23rd, just 14 minutes before President Donald Trump unexpectedly posted about very good conversations on ending the war, traders suddenly placed $500 million in bets on the price of oil.

[00:07:39]The moment the announcement dropped, oil prices shifted dramatically. And the people who placed those bets made an enormous amount of money. Then it happened again on April 7th, a surge in oil bets, then a Trump post, then a massive shift in oil prices, all within minutes.

[00:07:58]Then it happened again on April 21st, same pattern, same timing, same result.

[00:08:04]Three separate times, Senator Elizabeth Warren put it plainly, this looks like insider trading.

[00:08:11]Someone with access to information about what the president is about to announce is sharing that information with traders who are then placing bets and making hundreds of millions of dollars.

[00:08:22]She noted that one United States soldier has already been charged for betting on the capture of Maduro months earlier, but not a single person has been charged for the many trades made around the Middle East war. Senator Elizabeth Warren asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directly, "Do you have any explanation for these perfectly timed trading spikes other than insider trading?"

[00:08:47]Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said everything his department has done with information, working with the White House and across agencies, has been completely above board.

[00:08:58]Senator Elizabeth Warren pushed back immediately, "What does that mean? Do you have any other explanation other than insider trading?

[00:09:07]Can you tell me why, just minutes before a major announcement, there is a surge of $500 million in trading activity?"

[00:09:15]Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he is focused on executing missions, on making sure troops are prepared, and that what happens in betting markets is not something his department is involved in.

[00:09:28]Senator Elizabeth Warren pressed harder, "You are telling me you have paid no attention to this insider trading, you have not noticed it, you have not done anything about it. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed what happens in markets is not something his department is involved in. Senator Elizabeth Warren responded immediately. What happens in betting markets does not matter to you, even if the information is coming from insiders in your own office.

[00:09:58]Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said it is not something the department is involved in and claimed no one has taken operational security more seriously, citing classified operations like Midnight Hammer and Operation Maduro as proof. But Senator Elizabeth Warren was not asking whether operations were kept secret from the public. She was asking whether someone inside the building is leaking the timing of announcements to traders making hundreds of millions of dollars. Those are two completely different things.

[00:10:33]And Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth never addressed that distinction. Senator Elizabeth Warren took his non-answer as a no and moved to something even more explosive.

[00:10:44]She raised recent reporting from the Financial Times about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's own personal financial dealings.

[00:10:52]The Financial Times reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's broker attempted to buy hundreds of shares in a BlackRock fund invested in defense companies just before the war in Iran began.

[00:11:04]This is not a minor issue. The law clearly prohibits the Secretary of Defense from owning stock in the 10 largest defense contractors. That prohibition exists for one simple reason. The Secretary of Defense makes decisions that directly affect the value of defense company stocks.

[00:11:23]If the person making those decisions also owns those stocks, that is a direct conflict of interest. Senator Elizabeth Warren told Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that she and other senators had sent him a detailed letter with specific questions about this reported trading activity.

[00:11:41]He had not responded. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's response was forceful. He said the Financial Times story is completely false, made up from the beginning, and deliberately worded to make him look involved in something he had nothing to do with. He said he does not invest for money, does not do it for stocks, and that nobody owns him, nobody owns the department, and nobody owns the president. Senator Elizabeth Warren then asked two very specific questions.

[00:12:12]First, did Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, through his broker at Morgan Stanley or otherwise, seek to invest in any defense-related funds right before the war in Iran began?

[00:12:24]Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called that a big fat negative.

[00:12:28]Second, is his broker required to get Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's personal sign-off before making any investment in individual stocks? Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called that a bigger, fatter negative. But, here is exactly where everything fell apart.

[00:12:45]Because immediately after that exchange ended, Senator Elizabeth Warren entered into the official congressional record the ethics agreement that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth himself signed.

[00:12:58]That signed agreement states clearly that he will personally sign off before his broker makes any attempt to buy defense stocks.

[00:13:06]Read that again slowly. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a legal ethics agreement saying he will approve any defense stock purchases by his broker.

[00:13:17]And then he sat in front of Senator Elizabeth Warren and said his broker does not need his sign-off. Those two things cannot both be true. Either Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth does not know what is in his own ethics agreement or he gave a false answer to a United States Senator during a congressional hearing on the official record. Neither of those options is acceptable. Senator Elizabeth Warren did not have time to press further, but the record now contains his denial and his signed ethics agreement sitting right next to each other and the American people can read both. Here is the full picture of this exchange.

[00:13:57]$500 million in oil bets placed 14 minutes before a presidential announcement three separate times and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says it is not his concern. The Financial Times reported his broker attempted to buy defense fund shares before the war began and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called it completely false. He said his broker does not need his personal sign-off on defense stock purchases and his own signed ethics agreement says the opposite. Senator Elizabeth Warren came in with documented evidence. She asked specific questions. She entered the ethics agreement into the record and she let the contradiction speak for itself.

[00:14:43]That is what accountability looks like.

[00:14:45]Whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is actually providing it is now something the American people and the official congressional record will have to answer. Share this with someone who needs to see it. Leave your thoughts in the comments below and subscribe so you do not miss the next breakdown.