Jordan Belfort, known as the "real-life Wolf Of Wall Street" and depicted in the 2013 Martin Scorsese film by Leonardo DiCaprio, has backed Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Trump’s executive order to impose tariffs on imports from a number of countries sent shockwaves through stock markets, before delaying the majority of them.
Indeed, Trump has paused the higher-band tariffs on countries for 90-days with the exception of China, where he has imposed a 125 per cent tariff on Chinese goods. In retaliation, China has also raised tariffs on the US to 125 per cent.
Now, in a new interview with Sky News, Jordan Belfort – the former stockbroker who pleaded guilty to fraud and related crimes in connection with stock-market manipulation – has said that there is “no way” that Donald Trump is guilty of market manipulation.
Belfort, 62, said that while he is against tariffs generally, Trump’s dramatic intervention was necessary as the US has an “insane” trade imbalance and imports far more than it exports.
He added: “The United States has been drained of its wealth, drained of its factories. It’s not gonna be pretty. There’s going to be pain – but the path we were on before is simply unsustainable. It had to change.”
Belfort went on to say that Democrats criticising the president are just trying to "earn brownie points with the media and their party".
Indeed, some of the president’s opponents are saying that Trump has questions to answer after he said it was a “great time to buy” shares before the stock market surged when he paused tariffs.
"I personally don't find it overly suspicious,” said Belfort. “Especially since he's told it to everybody at once” - referring to the fact Trump made the statement on social media.
"If he hadn't said anything and told five of his best friends 'I'm gonna ease this tariff situation - you should be buying', that would be illegal."
Trump's rivals are calling for an urgent inquiry into whether any of his family or administration officials benefited by dealing in the stock market ahead of time.
“Did anyone buy or sell stocks, and profit at the public’s expense?,” asked Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff in a post on BlueSky. Added Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut on X: “An insider trading scandal is brewing.”
Belfort also backed Elon Musk and his controversial government efficiency role, which has forced thousands of jobs cut.
"I love what is being done because the amount of abuse and waste and fraud, it's absolutely insane," said Belfort. "It's a great thing that's happening."
