Trump Says He’s ‘Not Happy’ With Reports of Insider Trading, ‘But It Is What It Is’ 

President Donald Trump offered a blasé response when asked if he is concerned about reports of insider trading relating to actions his administration is taking.

On Thursday, a U.S. special forces soldier who reportedly participated in the raid that abducted former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife was indicted for allegedly betting on Maduro’s ouster.

ABC News reported that Gannon Ken Van Dyke wagered more than $33,000 on Polymarket days before the raid. The bet netted him $409,000, prosecutors allege. The outlet added that the indictment is believed to be the first for insider trading on a prediction market, which is another term for a gambling website.

Trump took questions from reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday and was asked about the indictment.

“Are you concerned that federal employees are betting on these prediction markets and potentially getting rich?” a reporter asked.

“Well, I don’t know it, Trump replied. “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 said.

The president responded by comparing the soldier to Pete Rose, who was banned from Major League Baseball for life after an investigation concluded that he had wagered on games, including ones in which he was managing. MLB posthumously reinstated Rose last year.

“That’s like Pete Rose betting on his own team,” Trump said. “It’s a little like Pete Rose. Pete Rose, they kept him out of the Hall of Fame because he bet on his own team. Now, if he bet against his team, that would be no good. But he bet on his own. I’ll look into it.”

The reporter followed up by noting that there is a well-founded suspicion that people in the know are wagering on outcomes related to the Iran war.

“Are you concerned about that?” she asked.

The president responded:

Well, you know, the whole world, unfortunately, has become somewhat of a casino. And you look at what’s going on all over the world, in Europe, and every place, they’re doing these betting things. I was never much in favor of it. I don’t like it, conceptually. But it is what it is. No, I think that I’m not happy with any of that stuff, but they have all these different sites. They have predictive markets. It’s a crazy world. It’s a much different world than it was.

Watch above via NewsNation.

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