White House teleprompter operator accused of betting $100k on Trump speeches

A White House teleprompter operator has been placed on unpaid leave after being accused of using inside knowledge of President Donald Trump's speeches to place bets worth nearly $100,000 on the prediction platform Kalshi. Gabriel Perez, who had worked at the White House since 2016, is alleged to have wagered on words the president would use during major addresses, including the State of the Union speech. Kalshi, a prediction markets platform where users bet on real-world events, said its analysts noticed unusual betting activity on "mention markets" in March — contracts predicting whether a speaker would use common terms such as specific countries, economic words, or campaign slogans. Using account data, the company identified the user as a federal employee operating White House teleprompters. An exchange froze more than $90,000 before Perez could withdraw the money. Kalshi confirmed it reported the activity to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the regulator overseeing the platform. "The words of political leaders like Presidents and Fed chairs cause billions of dollars of movement in FX markets, oil futures, [and] the stock market," Kalshi said in a statement. Robert DeNault, Kalshi's head of enforcement, said the firm flagged the trades and handed evidence to regulators. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Trump was aware of the situation and that Perez was now on unpaid leave, adding that he would no longer work at the White House. Sources told CBS News that Perez has been "fully cooperative" with the CFTC. However, ABC News reported that federal prosecutors in Manhattan declined to open a criminal case. When contacted by the BBC to confirm an investigation, the CFTC said it could not "confirm or deny" any probe. The story was first reported by ABC News.