In brief
A federal employee who operated teleprompters in the White House is under investigation for allegedly placing lucrative bets on Donald Trump’s speeches. The operator allegedly used inside information to predict specific words and made nearly $100,000 in profit on the prediction‑market platform Kalshi. The platform froze his account, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has been notified. President Trump is aware of the staffer, who is now on unpaid leave. No criminal case has been opened yet, but regulators are reviewing the transactions.
A White House teleprompter operator is facing investigation after allegedly making nearly $100,000 profit betting on the words that President Donald Trump would use in his speeches.
Gabriel Perez, who has worked at the White House since 2016, is accused of placing bets on specific terms he would see in the teleprompters for major addresses, including the State of the Union. The trades were executed on Kalshi, a prediction‑markets platform that lets users wager on real‑world events.
Kalshi reported the unusual activity to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and froze Perez’s account before any profits could be withdrawn. The exchange said it had identified Perez as a federal employee after analyzing account data.
“The words of political leaders like Presidents and Fed chairs move billions of dollars in FX, oil and stock markets,” Kalshi’s enforcement head Robert DeNault told the BBC. More than $90,000 was frozen before withdrawal could occur.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Perez was aware of Trump’s use of the teleprompter and that he is now on unpaid leave. Leavitt added that Perez would no longer hold a White House position.
ABC News first reported the story, which CBS News and the BBC have corroborated. Sources say Perez has been fully cooperative with the CFTC, who declined to confirm or deny an ongoing probe. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan declined to open a criminal case.
