White House teleprompter operator accused of making $100k off Trump speech bets
A White House teleprompter operator is being investigated for allegedly placing bets using inside information and making nearly $100,000 from speeches by US President Donald Trump.
Gabriel Perez, who has worked at the White House since 2016, is accused of placing bets on the words the president would use in major public speeches, including the State of the Union address.
The trades were made on Kalshi, a prediction market platform where users can bet on real-world events. The firm confirmed that it reported the activity to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which regulates the platform.
According to the information received, Kalshi froze Perez’s account before any profits were withdrawn.
The platform told the BBC that its analysts had noticed unusual bets in March on “mention markets” – contracts in which it predicts whether a speaker will use common terms such as certain countries, economic words or campaign slogans.
“The words of political leaders such as presidents and Fed chairmen cause billions of dollars in movements in foreign exchange markets and oil futures. [and] stock market,” Kalshi said.
Using account data, the company determined that the user was a federal employee operating the White House teleprompters.
The stock market froze more than $90,000 before pulling back.
Robert DeNault, Kalshi’s chief executive, said the firm flagged the transactions and turned over the evidence to regulators.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Trump was aware of the teleprompter operator and that the staffer was now on unpaid leave, then added that Perez would no longer be working at the White House.
The story, first reported by ABC News, was confirmed by the BBC’s US partner CBS News.
Sources said Perez is “fully cooperating” with the CFTC.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan declined to file criminal charges, ABC said.
When contacted by the BBC to confirm it was investigating, the CFTC said it “cannot confirm or deny” any investigation.
