Trump Has Mindblowing Reaction to Insider Trading on Maduro Capture
Insider trading is of no concern to the Trump administration.Federal prosecutors have charged Gannon Ken Van Dyke, a 38-year-old active duty Army soldier involved in the planning and capture of former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, with using confidential intel to win $400,000 on Polymarket predictions related to the raid.But Donald Trump practically shrugged off the illegal activity while speaking with reporters Thursday evening, suggesting to the room that there was no issue with making extra cash off of insider knowledge so long as he was betting on the U.S. to win.“Mr. President, apparently there was a special forces soldier involved in the capture of [Maduro] who was arrested by federal authorities today on suspicion of insider trading and betting on Polymarket,” started a reporter. “Are you concerned that federal employees are betting on these reduction markets and potentially getting rich?”“Well, I don’t know about it,” Trump said, taking a long pause. “Was he betting that they would get him or they wouldn’t get him?”“It sounds like he was betting on his removal from office, that Maduro would be removed,” the reporter clarified.“That’s interesting. That’s like Pete Rose betting on his own team, it’s a little like Pete Rose,” Trump said, referring to the former Cincinnati Reds manager. Rose was permanently blacklisted from the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989 after he was caught betting on his team to win. Rose’s behavior also spurred the Hall of Fame’s board of directors’ eponymously titled 1991 baseball rule, barring anyone on the permanently ineligible list from running for election in the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. “If he bet against his team, that would be no good,” Trump added, referring to Van Dyke.Reporter: There was a special forces soldier involved in the capture of Maduro who was arrested on suspicion of insider trading. Are you concerned that federal employees are betting on these reduction markets and potentially getting rich? Trump: Well, I don't know about it. Was… pic.twitter.com/zmPNGuVL1s— Acyn (@Acyn) April 23, 2026In the same press conference, Trump lamented that “the whole world has become somewhat of a casino.”“I was never very much in favor of it, I don’t like it conceptually,” said Trump, whose social media company Truth Social is in the midst of launching its own prediction platform, Truth Predict. “It is what it is.”Van Dyke was arrested Thursday and faces up to 60 years in prison. In a statement posted on social media, Polymarket said “insider trading has no place” in its betting services, and claimed it had appropriately coordinated with law enforcement and the Justice Department investigation to hold Van Dyke accountable.Yet despite the clear parameters of the law prohibiting such activity, some corners of Washington are already divided on what justice looks like for the soldier. Florida Representative Anna Paulina Luna has already asked Trump to pardon Van Dyke, claiming in a social media post that “unless the DOJ plans on going after all the crooks in Congress currently insider trading, this is simply skewed justice.”“I don’t agree with what he did and he should be required to disgorge all the profits; however, unless the DOJ plans on doing Congress next, this is not justice,” she affirmed.