Josh Hawley says he had 'good chat' with Trump after dustup over stock trading bill

Thu, Jul 31, 2025, 12:43 PM 5 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Josh Hawley is brushing off President Donald Trump's quip that he's a “second-tier” senator after the Republican’s proposal to ban stock trading by members of Congress — and the president and vice president — won bipartisan approval to advance in a committee vote.

The Missouri Republican told Fox News late Wednesday that it’s “not the worst thing” he’s ever been called and that he and the president ”had a good chat” clearing up confusion over the bill.

The misunderstanding, Hawley said, was that Donald Trump would have to sell his Mar-a-Lago private club and other assets.

“Not the case at all,” Hawley said on “Jesse Watters Primetime.”

It was the second time in many days that Trump laid into senators in his own party as the president tries, sometimes without success, to publicly pressure them to fall in line. Earlier, Trump tore into veteran GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa over an obscure Senate procedure regarding nominations.

In a social media post, Trump called Hawley a “second-tier Senator” who was playing into the hands of Democrats.

Trump added: “I don’t think real Republicans want to see their President, who has had unprecedented success, TARGETED, because of the ‘whims’ of a second-tier Senator named Josh Hawley!”

Stock trading bans gain support

Stock trading by members of Congress has long been an issue that both parties have tried to tackle, especially as some elected officials have become wealthy while in elected office. During the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular, it was disclosed that lawmakers were trading as information about the health crisis before it became public. Insider trading laws don’t always apply to the types of information lawmakers receive.

Hawley’s legislation with the panel’s top Democrat, Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, sailed out of the Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, after his support delivered a bipartisan vote over the objections of the other Republicans, who have majority control.

GOP senators had been working with the White House on the stock trade bill, and some supported a broad carve-out to exclude the president from the ban, but it failed, with Hawley joining Democrats to block it.

Trump also complained that Hawley joined with Democrats to block another amendment that would have investigated the stock trades of Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the speaker emerita, and her spouse. Paul Pelosi has been a much-watched trader, but the California lawmaker's office said she personally does not own stock.

Hawley said after his conversation with Trump that the president “reiterated to me he wants to see a ban on stock trading by people like Nancy Pelosi and members of Congress, which is what we passed.” The senator also suggested the Democratic leader should be prosecuted, but it’s not clear on what grounds.