Trump teleprompter operator investigated over speech bets

A longtime White House teleprompter operator is under federal scrutiny over allegations that he used access to President Donald Trump’s prepared remarks to make nearly $100,000 betting on the words Trump would use in public speeches.

Gabriel Perez, who has worked for Trump since 2016, is accused of placing bets on Kalshi, a prediction markets platform where users wager on real-world events. The bets involved so-called “mention markets,” contracts that let users predict whether a speaker will use specific words or phrases during public appearances, including major addresses such as the State of the Union.

Federal regulators are in settlement talks with Perez, NPR reported, citing two people with knowledge of the probe who were not authorized to speak publicly. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission regulates Kalshi. When asked by the BBC whether it was investigating, the CFTC said it could not “confirm or deny” any probe.

Kalshi said it reported the activity to the CFTC after its analysts detected unusual betting in March on markets tied to presidential remarks. The company said it reviewed account data and found the user was a federal employee operating White House teleprompters.

“Our surveillance team promptly flagged and referred these trades to the CFTC after an exchange investigation. We have been assisting regulators on this matter and provided evidence we collected, as we do in any referral,” said Robert DeNault, Kalshi’s head of enforcement.

Kalshi froze more than $90,000 before it could be withdrawn, the BBC reported. NPR reported, citing a source not authorized to speak publicly, that Perez was also banned from betting on the site. Perez did not return NPR’s request for comment.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that Perez is on unpaid administrative leave and called the alleged conduct “a disgrace.” She also said Trump was aware of the matter, and the BBC reported that Perez would no longer work at the White House.

Records cited by NPR show Perez was paid $175,000 a year as a deputy assistant to the president. Trump has referred to him during public appearances, including at a 2024 campaign stop in Reno, Nevada.

“I have a guy, Gabe, he’s excellent. I’ve had some real bad ones, but I have Gabe, some of the bad ones, they go so fast. I will go and I say, slow the damn thing,” Trump said. “No, a good one is really like gold.”

Prediction markets allow users to bet on outcomes ranging from elections and global policy to what color tie a president will wear. On Kalshi’s mention markets, traders can wager on whether Trump will say words or phrases such as “Hormuz,” “rigged election” or “fake news.” Ahead of Trump’s address to the nation later Thursday, Kalshi traders had already wagered more than $800,000 on such markets, NPR reported.

Kalshi told the BBC that the words of political leaders can affect financial markets. “The words of political leaders like Presidents and Fed chairs cause billions of dollars of movement in FX markets, oil futures, [and] the stock market,” the company said.

The case was first reported by ABC News. The BBC said the report was confirmed by its U.S. partner, CBS News. Sources told the BBC that Perez has been “fully cooperative” with the CFTC. ABC reported that federal prosecutors in Manhattan declined to open a criminal case, while NPR reported that it is not clear whether the Department of Justice is examining the matter.

NPR reported that White House staff received a March memo warning against using nonpublic government information to place bets on Kalshi or its competitor Polymarket. The memo said it is a criminal offense for anyone inside the White House to “buy” or “sell” on the sites and warned that misusing government information “is a very serious offence and will not be tolerated.”