Trump blasts Josh Hawley as a ‘second-tier’ senator. Why did he lash out at ally?
President Donald Trump blasted Sen. Josh Hawley on Wednesday, calling the Missouri Republican a “second-tier” senator over Hawley’s plan to ban stock trading by members of Congress and the president.
Trump’s scathing rebuke of Hawley came in a lengthy social media post on Wednesday after Hawley was the lone Republican to join all Democrats in advancing the legislation out of committee.
“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!” Trump wrote in the post on his social media site Truth Social.
The post was noteworthy, putting the Republican president at odds with one of his staunchest political allies. Hawley has largely built his political brand on a populist, working class image that echoes much of Trump’s agenda.
Hawley addressed Trump’s comments later on Wednesday in an interview with Fox News, saying that he had “a good chat” with the president after the post became public.
“I think that the president — a number of people who are opposed to banning stock trading, had said to the president that he would be covered by the bill. He’d have to sell Mar-a-Lago and sell assets,” Hawley told host Jesse Watters. “Not the case at all. The president and the vice president and all their assets are totally exempted.”
Republicans had previously been working with Trump’s administration on the proposed stock trade ban, with some supporting a carve-out that would exclude the president from the bill. But that effort failed.
Under the proposed legislation, members of Congress, the president, vice president and their spouses would be banned from holding, buying or selling stock. The issue of stock trading in Congress has long confounded members of both parties, largely in recent years as officials have become wealthy while holding elected office.
If enacted, the legislation would immediately ban elected officials from buying stocks and prohibit them from selling stocks for 90 days after the legislation became law.
While the bill would require officials to divest from all covered investments, that prohibition would not start until their next term — which would shield Trump from the requirement.
The Associated Press contributed reporting.
This story was originally published July 31, 2025 at 11:46 AM.
