Trump teleprompter aide accused of making $100,000 on speech bets
Reports say a White House teleprompter operator used access to Trump’s prepared remarks to profit from Kalshi contracts.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
3 min read
A White House aide who operated President Trump’s teleprompter is accused of making about $100,000 by betting on words and phrases that would appear in Trump’s speeches, according to NPR and ABC News. The allegations add to scrutiny of prediction markets that let users put money on political events and other real-world outcomes.
NPR identified the aide as Gabriel Perez and reported that he placed trades on Kalshi, a prediction-market platform. ABC News reported that Perez had access to the president’s prepared remarks and, in some cases, changed his positions while Trump was speaking.
Kalshi offers contracts tied to whether certain events will happen. One part of the platform, known as a mention market, lets users trade on whether specified words or phrases will be used in public settings such as corporate earnings calls or speeches.
According to NPR, Perez’s trades involved those mention markets and took place over several months late last year and early this year. ABC News reported, citing sources, that Perez often had final access to Trump’s prepared remarks and sometimes received last-minute edits from the president.
ABC News also reported that investigators found instances in which Perez exited positions during speeches when Trump skipped a section that contained a word Perez had bet would be said. The reports did not say that Perez has been criminally charged.
Kalshi bans trading based on nonpublic information, according to the reports. ABC News reported that the company detected unusual activity, reviewed the account, determined the customer was a federal employee, froze the funds and referred the matter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The CFTC investigated and is in settlement talks with Perez, according to ABC News. The outlet also reported that federal prosecutors in Manhattan were alerted but declined to open a criminal investigation.
The White House said Perez will no longer work there, according to the Washington Examiner. The reports did not include a public statement from Perez.
Prediction markets under pressure
The case comes as Kalshi and other prediction-market companies face growing attention from regulators. Kalshi has described its contracts as a form of forecasting tied to information, while some states have sought to treat similar products under gambling laws.
Kalshi has sought oversight through the CFTC, which gives the company a federal regulatory path. The CFTC has sued states including Kentucky, Minnesota, Illinois and Rhode Island in an effort to pre-empt state actions and establish a national standard under its authority.
The Trump White House had already warned employees about the issue. CBS News reported in March that White House staff were told not to use nonpublic information to buy or sell prediction-market contracts.
Other alleged insider-trading cases have fueled those concerns. Federal authorities arrested U.S. soldier Gannon Ken Van Dyke in April after alleging he made $410,000 on Polymarket using information tied to planning for the capture of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, according to earlier reports. NPR also reported that former Rep. George Santos was investigated over allegations that he bet on whether he would attend the State of the Union after publicly discussing his plans.
Prediction markets have expanded beyond elections and politics into areas such as biotech trial outcomes, flight cancellations and the wording of public remarks, according to Bloomberg and Kalshi market listings. The Perez allegations put renewed focus on whether platforms and regulators can stop users from trading on privileged information.
This story draws on original reporting from Ars Technica.