A White House teleprompter operator is under investigation for allegedly leveraging insider knowledge to wager on President Donald Trump’s speeches and secure nearly $100,000 in gains.
Gabriel Perez, a White House employee since 2016, is accused of betting on specific terminology the president would employ during major public addresses, including the State of the Union address.
These wagers were placed on Kalshi, a prediction‑market platform that allows users to stake on real‑world outcomes. Kalshi disclosed the activity to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the agency that oversees the market.
Kalshi suspended Mr. Perez’s account prior to any profit withdrawals, according to reports.
The firm informed the BBC that its analysts identified anomalous betting on “mention markets,” contracts that forecast whether a speaker will use particular terms — such as country names, economic phrases, or campaign slogans — during March.
“The utterances of political leaders like Presidents and Fed chairs can trigger billions of dollars of movement in foreign‑exchange markets, oil futures, and equities,” Kalshi remarked.
Analysis of the betting data revealed that the user was a federal employee operating within the White House teleprompter team.
The exchange halted withdrawals exceeding $90,000 before they could be processed.
Robert DeNault, Kalshi’s head of enforcement, stated that the company flagged the transactions and provided the evidence to regulatory authorities.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that President Trump was aware of the teleprompter operator and that the employee had been placed on unpaid leave, later noting that Mr. Perez would no longer serve at the White House.
The report, initially broken by ABC News, has been verified by the BBC’s U.S. partner, CBS News.
According to sources, Mr. Perez has cooperated fully with the CFTC.
ABC indicated that federal prosecutors in Manhattan opted not to pursue a criminal case.
When approached by the BBC for confirmation of an investigation, the CFTC responded that it could not “confirm or deny” any probe.
