Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago now represented by a Democrat in Florida Legislature
And new questions are being raised about stock market bounces that appear to be timed to the president's war announcements
Mar-a-Lago has flipped from red to blue.
That’s the headline all across America this morning as news sites report the results of a special election in a Florida legislative district to replace a Republican state representative.
The election was won by Democrat Emily Gregory, a political novice who runs a fitness company that works with pregnant and postpartum women.
She defeated a Republican, Jon Maples, who was endorsed by Donald Trump, who posted on social media that Maples was backed “by so many of my Palm Beach County friends.”
Both of them, I suppose. Because not even the support of the president of the United States was enough.
Ordinarily, a special election for a legislative seat is barely news in the state in which the election occurs. After all, in Florida, there are 120 representatives, along with 40 senators, in the state Legislature. Most are unknown to the general population, even in Florida, let alone outside the boundaries of the Gunshine State.
But not this race.
Trump now has a Democrat representing his interests in the Legislature, and that’s got political junkies stirring, particularly Democrats who see this as a sign of the party’s momentum leading into the midterm elections.
“If Mar-a-Lago is vulnerable, imagine what’s possible this November,” said Heather Williams, president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee. She noted this was the 29th seat that Democrats have flipped from Republican control since Trump took office.
“Donald Trump’s own neighbors just sent a crystal clear message: They are furious and ready for change,” said Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin.
“I think it demonstrates where the Florida voter is,” Gregory told POLITICO after her win. “They want someone who is focused on solutions and the issues and not focused on the noise.”
Said Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried:
“This victory reiterates an undeniable trend in Florida: With year-round organizing and infrastructure investment, Democrats can run and win anywhere —including Donald Trump’s backyard. Floridians are tired of the chaos, corruption, and sky-high prices on everything from groceries to gas and health care.”
J.C. Bruce is the founder of Tropic Press, a Florida online news service dedicated to sharing news and commentary relevant to Florida readers, whether it originates in the Sunshine State or elsewhere. Bruce is an award-winning former newspaper editor, journalist and author living in Florida, his native state.
Speaking of corruption…
Social media is also abuzz today about concerns that Trump insiders are making a killing in the stock market.
This morning, economist Paul Krugman came right out and said it: “People close to Trump are trading based on national secrets.” Another word for that, he said, is “treason.” The evidence for such a claim is the sudden and isolated jump in trading volume in S&P 500 and oil futures about 15 minutes before Trump suddenly announced that the U.S. and Iran were in negotiations to end the war—an announcement that turned out to be false.
The oil futures trade alone was worth about $580 million, the Financial Times estimated. As Krugman notes, exploiting confidential information for financial gain, otherwise known as “insider trading,” is illegal. But exploiting confidential information about national security for private financial gain is something else again. It puts profit-making above Americans’ safety.
“I’d very much like to know exactly who was making those trades yesterday morning,” Krugman wrote. “Were they people directly in the know, or billionaires/traders who paid people in the know for tips?”
An epidemic of suspicious trading has emerged around President Trump’s most consequential decisions — each time, just minutes or hours before he rattles global markets, according to exchange data.
Why it matters: As the Iran war sends prices soaring for ordinary Americans, a select few appear to be profiting in plain sight. It’s precisely the kind of alleged corruption Trump built his political career railing against.
Democrats, favored to win the House in November, already are laying the groundwork for investigations into whether insiders are trading on Trump’s market-moving decisions.
Margaret Ryan, the top enforcement official at the Securities and Exchange Commission — the agency tasked with investigating insider trading and other illegal activities in financial markets — abruptly resigned last week, after just six months on the job.
Reportedly, Ryan wanted to be more aggressive in pursuing charges of fraud and other misconduct, including against Trump’s inner circle. But the SEC’s chairman, Paul Atkins, and other Republican appointees to the commission wouldn’t let her.
When Trump appointed Atkins chair of the SEC, he was co-chair of the Token Alliance, a cryptocurrency advocacy group, and he owned $6 million worth of holdings in crypto-related businesses.
During Atkins’ time at the SEC, the commission has dropped or settled numerous lawsuits with cryptocurrency companies and adopted a lax regulatory approach to fraud.
It’s also avoided politically sensitive cases — such as, let me hazard a guess, insider trading by Trump’s family and cronies.
Why do I mention insider trading by Trump’s family and cronies?
Because on Monday, March 23, at 7:05 a.m. ET, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that Washington had held “VERY GOOD AND PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS” with Tehran over a “COMPLETE AND TOTAL RESOLUTION” to hostilities.
Immediately, the stock market roared to life. The S&P 500 futures soared more than 2.5 percent before the opening bell. And oil futures (bets on the future prices of oil) plummeted, dropping 14 percent in a matter of minutes.
Onward thru the fog
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed if you are a rational person living in the Free State of Florida, but there are plenty of smart, reasonable people just like you here. The purpose of this newsletter and the Tropic Press website is to provide a source of news and commentary that shines a light through this irrational fog.
Thank you for your support as a subscriber. It is invaluable. This is especially so for those of you who have chosen to upgrade to paid subscriptions. Your contributions are making this possible.
J.C. Bruce
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This Saturday, millions of Americans will take to the streets for the next No Kings Day rally. You can find the one nearest to you here.
Baby steps! We will get there! Here in Tampa's District 14, too!
What happened in Trump's Mar-a-Lago state-legislative district yesterday couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. A nicer guy (a low bar, indeed!) would have more respect among his neighbors. A nicer guy would have his neighbors cheering for him and, if he were a politician, supporting folks committed to his agenda. Clearly not so for this President. I guess it is an example of the old adage, "Familiarity breeds contempt." Certainly it does when the subject is a contemptible character!