Gabriel Perez Kalshi bets allegation leaves White House role vacant
A White House official said Gabriel Perez no longer works in government after reports about Kalshi bets tied to Trump speeches.
By Hana Yoshida · Markets Reporter
2 min read
Gabriel Perez, the White House teleprompter operator linked by ABC News to Kalshi bets on President Donald Trump’s speeches, no longer works for the federal government, a White House official said Tuesday. The departure matters because the case has drawn scrutiny to prediction markets that let users wager on words and phrases in public remarks.
The official, who was not authorized to discuss the personnel matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said Perez was no longer in his post. The official did not say whether Perez resigned or was fired.
The White House had confirmed earlier this month that Perez was placed on unpaid leave after ABC News reported he used inside information to win more than $100,000 on Kalshi. ABC News said the bets involved what Trump would say in major speeches, including this year’s State of the Union address.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called the reports of insider trading “deeply unfortunate and, frankly, a disgrace.”
What did Gabriel Perez allegedly do on Kalshi?
ABC News reported that Perez used knowledge from his White House role to place successful wagers on Kalshi markets tied to Trump’s public remarks. The report focused on Kalshi’s “Mentions” market, where users can bet on whether certain words or phrases will appear in speeches.
Kalshi is an online prediction market, meaning users trade contracts tied to whether specified events happen. In this case, the relevant contracts concerned language expected in public speeches rather than election results or economic data.
Kalshi has a policy barring users from betting based on information they obtain through their jobs, according to the Associated Press. The platform also recently began requiring users to disclose their place of employment.
How did Kalshi respond?
Robert Denault, Kalshi’s lawyer and head of enforcement, said on X after the ABC News report that the company’s surveillance team “promptly flagged, investigated and referred these trades” to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The CFTC regulates matters involving such markets.
Denault’s statement did not name Perez. The White House official’s comments Tuesday were the first confirmation that Perez was no longer working in the federal government after being put on unpaid leave.
The case has put attention on how prediction markets police trades that may involve nonpublic information. The facts publicly confirmed so far are limited: ABC News reported the alleged conduct, the White House confirmed unpaid leave and later said Perez no longer works in government, and Kalshi said suspicious trades were referred to the CFTC.
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.