The operator of President Donald Trump’s teleprompter is under investigation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) after allegedly using advance knowledge of the president’s speeches to place profitable bets on the prediction market Kalshi. Gabriel Perez, who has served as Trump’s teleprompter operator for about a decade, is reported to have made hundreds of thousands of dollars—some sources say more than $90,000—by wagering on specific words or phrases that would appear during Trump’s public remarks, including the State of the Union address and a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Kalshi’s internal surveillance systems flagged the suspicious trading activity, and the platform froze most of the funds before referring the matter to the CFTC. According to ABC News, Perez allegedly adapted to Trump’s frequent ad-libs by backing out of certain bets in real time. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Perez has been placed on paid administrative leave, with President Trump calling the allegations “deeply unfortunate and frankly a disgrace.” The CFTC declined to confirm or deny the investigation, citing policy.
The case highlights growing concerns over insider trading in the booming prediction market sector, which has seen billions of dollars wagered on politics, economic data, and other events. Recent similar incidents—including a Polymarket bet on Venezuelan politics and charges against a Google engineer—have already prompted lawmakers to introduce legislation banning insider bets on government-related outcomes, and the Senate has barred itself from trading on such markets. Platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket have meanwhile rolled out new measures to prevent misuse of non-public information.
