Trump's pal Carl Icahn dropped almost a million shares of a steel-dependent company days before tariff talk began

Carl Icahn.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

A week before President Trump announced his intention to impose a 25 percent tariff on steel imports, his longtime confidant and one-time adviser Carl Icahn had already cut almost 1 million shares of Wisconsin-based crane manufacturer Manitowoc Company Inc., ThinkProgress reports. The timing of Icahn's $31.3 million dump is suspect, because Manitowoc is a heavily steel-dependent company.

"Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross publicly released a report on Feb. 16 calling for a 24 percent tariff," notes ThinkProgress. "But, as the chart in the [Securities and Exchange Commission] filing indicates, Icahn started selling his Manitowoc stock on Feb. 12, prior to the public release of that report." Icahn made the SEC filing on Feb. 22.

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.