Ex-Trump Advisor Sold Steel-Linked Stocks Before POTUS Announced Tariffs

NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 03:  at the New York Times 2015 DealBook Conference at the Whitney Museum of American Art on November 3, 2015 in New York City.  (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for New York Times)
NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 03: Chairman of Icahn Enterprises Carl Icahn participates in a panel discussion at the New York Times 2015 DealBook Conference at the Whitney Museum of American Art on November 3, 2015 in New... NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 03: Chairman of Icahn Enterprises Carl Icahn participates in a panel discussion at the New York Times 2015 DealBook Conference at the Whitney Museum of American Art on November 3, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for New York Times) MORE LESS
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Days before President Trump announced his proposed steel tariffs, former Trump advisor Carl Icahn sold $31.3 million worth of stocks in a company that relies heavily on steel.

According to the SEC filings flagged by ThinkProgress, Icahn started selling off his stocks in Manitowoc Company Inc. between February 12 and February 22. Manitowoc, being a “global manufacturer of cranes and lifting solutions,” is naturally a large consumer of steel.

Trump announced plans to slap a 25% tariff on imported steel on March 1.

U.S manufacturing companies saw their shares plunge after POTUS’ announcement, including Manitowoc. The crane company fell by 6 percent.

Filings show that until February 12 of this year, Icahn had not actively traded his stocks in Manitowoc since January 2015.

A longtime friend to Trump, Icahn served as a “special advisor” to the President before resigning in August 2017 ahead of an incoming New Yorker story that outlined his attempts to use his position to help his investments.

On the same day Trump made the announcement, Icahn told CNBC’s Scott Wapner that he hasn’t “had much” interaction with Trump “in the last four or five months.”

 

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  1. This one makes no sense at all to me. Icahn is a legitimate billionaire, worth 16.6 billion according to Wikipedia. He really would have pulled such a boneheaded move that obviously was going to get discovered, just to save two million dollars - 6% of the 31 million stock he sold? It defies logic

  2. [quote=“smiley, post:2, topic:69210”]it defies logic.
    [/quote]

    And Jared didn’t think he’d get caught either. Impunity is the name of this gang. We don’t know for sure whether Icahn did something illegal but we know these bedfellows are shockingly inept.

  3. Avatar for daled daled says:

    On the same day Trump made the announcement, Icahn told CNBC’s Scott Wapner that he hasn’t “had much” interaction with Trump “in the last four or five months.”

    Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight

  4. Mueller’s gonna need a bigger paddy wagon.

  5. Avatar for pshah pshah says:

    It really makes you wonder how smart this guy is. I mean did he really earn his billions like Gates or Buffett or did he do it by gaming the system like Trump.

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