White House Teleprompter Operator Allegedly Profited $100K From Insider Bets on Trump Speeches

TLDR

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Gabriel Perez, who has run Trump’s teleprompter operations since 2016, is accused of earning over $100,000 through Kalshi prediction markets by exploiting advance knowledge of presidential speech content.
The allegations center on “Mentions” markets — betting contracts based on whether particular words or topics would surface in Trump’s public addresses.
Sources tell ABC News that Perez would abandon positions during speeches when Trump deviated from his prepared remarks.
Internal monitoring systems at Kalshi detected suspicious trading patterns and reported the activity to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Perez has been placed on administrative leave by the White House, with Trump describing the alleged actions as a “disgrace.”

For nearly a decade, Gabriel Perez has managed the teleprompter for President Donald Trump. This role gives him advance access to prepared remarks before they reach the public — or even the president’s lips. New reporting from ABC News suggests he allegedly exploited this privileged position for financial gain.

🚨 IT'S OFFICIAL: President Trump has placed his speech teleprompter operator on LEAVE WITHOUT PAY while they're being investigated for making allegedly $90K on Kalshi by betting on Trump's speeches

"I spoke with him about it. He believes it's deeply unfortunate and frankly a… pic.twitter.com/vDqqoB3Bqs

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) July 16, 2026

According to Thursday’s ABC News investigation, Perez is currently in discussions with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission regarding accusations that he leveraged confidential speech information to place strategic bets on Kalshi, a federally regulated prediction market service.

Kalshi offers “Mentions” markets where participants wager on whether certain phrases or subjects will appear in public addresses. Over approximately three months, Perez allegedly placed bets tied to more than a dozen Trump speeches, including high-profile events such as the State of the Union address and Trump’s January appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

The alleged scheme reportedly generated profits exceeding $100,000.

How the Bets Worked

As the teleprompter operator, Perez would have had complete visibility into Trump’s scripted content before delivery. Given Trump’s well-documented tendency to improvise and stray from prepared text, Perez allegedly capitalized on these moments by modifying his betting positions in real time — exiting trades mid-speech whenever the president skipped over planned sections.

Kalshi’s internal monitoring infrastructure identified the suspicious trading behavior. The platform promptly flagged the transactions and forwarded the case to federal regulators. When asked for comment, a CFTC representative stated the agency “can’t confirm or deny an investigation.”

Following the revelations, the White House moved quickly to place Perez on administrative leave. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt conveyed that Trump characterized the alleged conduct as “deeply unfortunate and frankly a disgrace.”

A Growing Problem for Prediction Markets

This incident arrives amid mounting concerns about insider trading vulnerabilities within prediction market platforms.

Just this January, federal prosecutors charged a U.S. Army soldier with exploiting classified information to place a $400,000 wager on Polymarket regarding Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Separately in May, authorities charged a Google software engineer with misusing proprietary company search trend data to generate $1.2 million in profits on Polymarket.

Earlier in the year, six Polymarket users collectively earned approximately $1 million by betting on imminent U.S. military strikes against Iran — positions placed just hours before explosions were reported in Tehran.

Legislative action has followed these scandals. In June, Republican Representative Bryan Steil put forward a bill prohibiting members of Congress and their immediate families from participating in prediction markets involving political events. The Senate has implemented its own ban on such trading activities.

Both Kalshi and Polymarket maintain they have established safeguards against insider trading. The Perez investigation now serves as a critical examination of whether these protective measures function effectively in practice.

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