Trump's Teleprompter Operator Investigated for $100K in Prediction Market Bets

Gabriel Perez, who has served as President Trump's teleprompter operator since 2016, was placed on unpaid administrative leave after allegations that he used advance knowledge of Trump's speeches to place bets on the prediction market Kalshi, earning over $100,000. Perez, a technical assistant to the president with an annual salary of $175,000, allegedly bet on more than a dozen speeches over a three-month period, including the February State of the Union address, a December primetime address, a January speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, and remarks during a March Medal of Honor ceremony.

The activity centered on Kalshi's "Mentions" market, where users can bet on whether specific words, phrases, or topics will be mentioned in public speeches. Kalshi's surveillance team detected unusual trading patterns and alerted the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the federal regulator overseeing prediction markets. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described the situation as "deeply unfortunate and frankly a disgrace," stating that President Trump was informed and made the decision personally to place Perez on leave. The White House confirmed it has strict ethics guidelines prohibiting staffers from using nonpublic information to place bets on prediction markets—a memo to this effect was issued in March.

According to sources, Perez sat for an interview with CFTC regulators and acknowledged some of the trades. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan were alerted but declined to open a criminal investigation. Regulators at the CFTC expressed willingness to settle with Perez on terms requiring him to return profits and refrain from similar trades. Perez's winnings have been frozen during the investigation, with sources citing figures ranging from over $90,000 to over $100,000. Perez is known to have the final review of nearly all of Trump's prepared remarks and often incorporates last-minute edits from Trump himself, giving him significant inside knowledge of speech content.

The case reflects broader concerns about insider trading on prediction markets as they grow in popularity. The investigation parallels other alleged insider trading cases, including a special forces soldier accused of betting on the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and a Google employee accused of betting on user search activity. In May, Kalshi fined three U.S. political candidates who bet on their own election outcomes. The incident also follows scrutiny of disgraced former Republican Congressman George Santos, who allegedly bet on his own attendance at the State of the Union address.