White House teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez placed on leave after winning $100K betting on Trump's speeches
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "White House teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez placed on leave after winning $100K betting on Trump's speeches")
WH teleprompter operators, including Gabriel Perez (R) sets up before US Prez Trump speaks at conference on June 26 Photograph: (Credit: AFP)
Donald Trump's longtime teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez has been put on unpaid leave after allegedly winning $100K by betting on the president's speeches.
Federal investigators with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) found that Gabriel Perez, US President Donald Trump's longtime teleprompter operator, allegedly made over $100,000 by placing bets on more than a dozen of Trump's speeches. The trades occurred on Kalshi, a prediction market featuring a "Mentions" market where users bet on whether specific words or topics are spoken publicly.
Kalshi's surveillance team flagged the suspicious activity and referred it to the CFTC. Kalshi prohibits users from betting based on employment-related information and recently updated its policies to require users to disclose their employers.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that Trump personally decided to place Perez on unpaid administrative leave, calling the situation a "disgrace." Leavitt was unaware of other staffers making similar trades, and White House spokesperson Davis Ingle emphasised that staffers must follow strict ethics guidelines. In March, the White House issued an internal memo warning staff against using nonpublic information for prediction market bets.
Perez has operated Trump’s teleprompter since 2016 and typically has final eyes on prepared remarks, including last-minute edits. He previously faced scrutiny regarding edits made before Trump’s January 6, 2021, speech. Investigators discovered Perez bet on speeches over three months, including the State of the Union, a December address, a Davos speech, a Medal of Honor ceremony, and a Detroit Economic Club address. Because Trump frequently deviates from his scripts, investigators found instances where Perez backed out of bets mid-speech when Trump skipped specific words.
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Perez interviewed with regulators and acknowledged some trades. While the CFTC alerted federal prosecutors in Manhattan, they declined to open a criminal investigation. The CFTC is now in talks to settle with Perez, discussing terms that require him to surrender his profits and refrain from similar trading.
Also read: Donald Trump to attend Spain vs Argentina FIFA World Cup 2026 final, White House confirms
This follows recent Department of Justice insider trading cases involving prediction markets. While Trump has criticised the rise of these markets in principle, he expressed support for them in April, so the US is not "left out in the cold." Additionally, Trump Media and Technology Group announced plans last October to explore launching its own prediction market.
