Pelosi fires back after Trump’s brutal jab over insider trading — claims ‘I did too’ stand and applaud. Build riches even if you’re not a US lawmaker

“They stood up for that. I can’t believe it,” he said, gesturing toward the Democratic side of the chamber. “Did Nancy Pelosi stand up, if she’s here? Doubt it. Pass the Stop Insider Trading Act without delay. I wasn’t sure if anybody even on this side was even going to applaud for that. I’m very impressed.”

The remark quickly drew attention, given the long-running political scrutiny around congressional stock trading and allegations that lawmakers benefit from market-moving information.

Pelosi later responded to the jab during an appearance on CNN, where host Kasie Hunt asked her directly about being singled out by the president.

“I say back to him, as that's what members said, look at your own self," Pelosi fired back (2). “The inference he wants to draw is there was something wrong with that, which there wasn't and if there was, people get prosecuted for it. For a long time now we've been trying to pass this law … now it has more support than it had before.”

When Hunt pointed out that Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) stood and applauded when Trump raised the issue, Pelosi pushed back on the suggestion that she had not joined in.

“Well, we all did. I did too,” Pelosi said. “He said, ‘Did Nancy stand up?’ Yeah, I did too. A lot of people stood up, a lot of Democrats stood up.”

For now, members of Congress are legally allowed to trade stocks, but regulations exist to prevent conflicts of interest. In 2012, former President Barack Obama signed the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, which prohibits lawmakers from using non-public information to gain an unfair advantage in the market and requires them to disclose stock trades within 45 days.

Critics, however, say the law is largely toothless — enforcement is weak and violations often result in nothing more than small fines (3).

Getting a piece of the action

In his address, Trump pointed to the stock market as a key driver of wealth creation, arguing that the recent rally has lifted retirement savings for millions of Americans.

“The stock market has set 53 all-time record highs since the election,” he said. “Boosting pensions, 401(k)s and retirement accounts for the millions and millions of Americans. They’re all gaining. Everybody’s up, way up.”

Markets have indeed climbed to fresh highs. The benchmark S&P 500 returned about 16% in 2025 and is up roughly 81% over the past five years.

The best part? You don’t have to be a lawmaker — or have access to insider information — to benefit from the market’s growth.

For investors interested in individual stocks, platforms like Moby aim to simplify the process. Their team of former hedge fund analysts does the heavy lifting — breaking down the market, flagging quality stocks and making the research easy to digest.

In fact, across nearly 400 stock picks over the past four years, Moby’s recommendations have beaten the S&P 500 by almost 12% on average. Their research keeps you up-to-the-minute on market shifts and takes the guesswork out of choosing investments.

Plus, their reports are easy to understand for beginners, so you can become a smarter investor in just five minutes.

If you don’t want to pick individual winners and losers, a more hands-off approach may be to simply invest in a broad S&P 500 index fund — a strategy that legendary investor Warren Buffett has often endorsed. You can even start small with tools like Acorns, a popular app that automatically invests your spare change.

Signing up for Acorns takes just minutes: Link your cards and Acorns will round up each purchase to the nearest dollar, investing the difference — your spare change — into a diversified portfolio.

With Acorns, you can invest in an S&P 500 ETF with as little as $5 — and, if you sign up today with a recurring investment, Acorns will add a $20 bonus to help you begin your investment journey.

Lawmakers don’t just buy stocks — they also buy this

While many politicians hold stocks in their portfolios, there’s another asset that they’ve also been accumulating: real estate.

A 2021 Business Insider analysis found that 238 federal lawmakers — including 44 senators and 194 members of the House — were also landlords (4). A separate report from the nonprofit advocacy group OpenSecrets suggested that members of Congress have invested more cash in real estate than any other industry (5).

Like stocks, real estate can be a long-term wealth-building asset, but it offers a key advantage: the potential for steady rental income. Rather than relying solely on price appreciation, high-quality properties can generate cash flow even in less favorable market conditions. Real estate has also historically been viewed as a hedge against inflation, as rents and property values often rise alongside the cost of living.

Of course, owning a rental property can sound appealing — until something goes wrong. One bounced check and your rental income disappears.

But institutional investors don’t face that problem. Their portfolios are diversified across hundreds — sometimes thousands — of units.

Now, accredited investors can tap into that same approach through platforms such as Lightstone DIRECT, giving you access to institutional-quality multifamily and industrial real estate — with a minimum investment of $100,000.

Founded in 1986 by David Lichtenstein, Lightstone Group is one of the largest privately held real estate investment firms in the U.S., with more than $12 billion in assets under management.

Over nearly-four decades, their team has delivered strong, risk-adjusted performance across multiple market cycles — including a 27.6% historical net IRR and a 2.54x historical net equity multiple on realized investments since 2004.

With Lightstone DIRECT, you gain access to the same multifamily and industrial deals Lightstone pursues with its own capital .