Trump’s Teleprompter Operator Made $100K Betting on His Speeches

A White House teleprompter operator appears to have made over $100,000 betting on President Trump’s speeches.

ABC News, citing unnamed sources, reports that a longtime staffer for the president, Gabriel Perez, was placing bets on Trump’s speeches on the prediction market Kalshi, sparking an investigation from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC.

Perez, a technical assistant, has operated Trump’s teleprompter since 2016, and is now speaking to federal investigators over allegations that he profited from inside knowledge. Perez allegedly bet on several of Trump’s speeches over three months, including the president’s prime-time address in December 2025, his remarks at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland in January 2026, and a Trump speech in March at a Medal of Honor ceremony.

Kalshi reportedly alerted the CFTC about suspicious activity on its “Mentions” market, which allows bets on whether certain words, topics, or phrases come up in public speech.

“Our surveillance team promptly flagged and referred these trades to the CFTC, and we are cooperating and assisting regulators,” the lead lawyer for Kalshi, Bobby DeNault, told ABC News in a statement.

“The White House has strict ethics guidelines that we expect all staffers and officials to follow,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said to ABC News. “The staffer in question is fully cooperating with the CFTC.”

In late March, the White House warned its staffers not to bet on world events in prediction markets.

Perez usually is the last person to see Trump’s prepared speeches, even taking last-minute edits from the president. In some cases, investigators found that Perez would change his bets while Trump was in the middle of a speech after the president skipped over certain words.

After meeting with regulators in the last few months, Perez acknowledged making the trades, and the CFTC alerted federal prosecutors in New York, who decided against a criminal investigation. CFTC regulators are reportedly willing to settle with Perez, allowing him to return his profits and refrain from any future bets.

In April, a special forces soldier involved in capturing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was charged with using confidential intelligence to win $400,000 on the prediction market Polymarket. It seems some in the Trump administration see their positions as a way to make money, even trading in national secrets. ...