Trump's teleprompter operator investigated for betting on speeches
by Joe Fisher · UPIJuly 16 (UPI) -- A White House teleprompter operator is under investigation for allegedly placing bets on prediction markets related to President Donald Trump's statements.
The teleprompter operator, Gabriel Perez, allegedly made more than $100,000 placing bets on Kalshi that predicted what Trump would say during his speeches, including his State of the Union address, ABC News, CNBC and CNN reported Thursday citing unnamed sources.
Perez is accused of using insider knowledge to enrich himself through the prediction market.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is investigating the allegations against Perez, who has been Trump's teleprompter operator since 2016. Perez is reportedly seeking a settlement in the investigation.
Unnamed sources said Kalshi alerted the federal regulator about suspicious activity. The prediction market that this activity was tracked on was Kalshi's "Mentions" market, a place on its platform where bettors can wager on the specific words, phrases or topics that are mentioned in a public speech. Bettors are given a binary yes or no option to wager whether something will or will not be said.
"Our surveillance team promptly flagged and referred these trades to the CFTC, and we are cooperating and assisting regulators," Bobby DeNault, lead attorney for Kalshi, said in a statement.
Perez allegedly made bets on more than a dozen of Trump's speeches over the span of three months. These included the State of the Union, a primetime address in December, his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January and his March speech during a Medal of Honor ceremony.
A report to Congress disclosed that Perez has a $175,000 salary for his role on the White House staff in 2026, making him one of the highest-paid staff members.
The White House issued a warning to staff earlier this year over placing bets on prediction markets.
"The White House has strict ethics guidelines that we expect all staffers and officials to follow," Davis Ingle, White House spokesperson, told ABC News. "The staffer in question is fully cooperating with the CFTC."
This week in Washington
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is sworn in at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on his nomination to be attorney general at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. Blanche has served as acting attorney general since April, when former Attorney General Pam Bondi was fired. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo