Peter Schiff Says Trump Is Toying With Oil Markets: ‘Expect Another Reversal’

Oil prices plunged nearly 7% Monday—and Peter Schiff says insiders traded ahead of the flip.

Why Schiff Calls This Market Manipulation

Schiff posted on X that President Trump first drove oil prices higher by threatening escalated military action against Iran after the midterms, then pivoted toward peaceful negotiations once that threat had run its course. 

"Once oil short positions are covered and new longs are established, expect another reversal of the official position," Schiff wrote, adding he expects the pattern to repeat "until markets no longer react to anything his administration says."

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday that Trump prefers not to use military force and wants a "diplomatic" resolution, a comment that sent U.S. oil prices below $100 a barrel. 

Oil Price Action: Brent crude fell about 7% after trading as high as $116.50 earlier, pushing the benchmark below its 20-day EMA near $111.

Why Traders Are Watching for a Deeper Oil Correction

Widely-followed cryptocurrency trader Michaël van de Poppe posted on X that oil is showing strong bearish divergence on both the RSI and MACD across multiple timeframes, pointing to a wider correction toward $95 and potentially $80. 

A continued oil drop would benefit other risk assets in the short term, including Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), he argued.

The Kobeissi Letter posted on X that U.S. stocks added more than $700 billion in market cap Monday as investors bought the dip in tech on renewed hope for a US-Iran peace deal. 

The S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) rose 1%, the Nasdaq 100 gained 1.3%, and gold climbed 2%.

Why Schiff’s Critique Echoes Past Questions About Trump-Linked Trading

As Benzinga reported in May 2025, Schiff previously criticized a dinner reserved for the top 220 holders of Trump’s memecoin, arguing a president shouldn’t profit from granting access tied to a token he promotes. 

The coin jumped 60% to $14.40 when the dinner was announced.

Benzinga later reported in June 2026 that Trump Organization affiliate CIC Digital collected more than $635 million in royalties from the token in 2025, even though the coin had fallen over 97% from its launch-period high by then.

A similar question came up with Bitcoin traders last October. A trader shorted Bitcoin and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) shortly before Trump threatened 100% tariffs on China, then closed those positions for a $160 million profit, according to Benzinga. 

The Kobeissi Letter asked, "Did Someone Know?" though no evidence has tied the trader to Trump.

BTC Price Action: Bitcoin trades near $76,950 Monday, down more than 1.5% after touching an intraday high of $78,742. Alex Thorn noted on X that Bitcoin has closed above its 50-week moving average for seven straight weeks, even after absorbing last week’s $6 billion Binance hack.

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