The staffer reportedly made over $100,000 from Kalshi.
Gabriel Perez, President Donald Trump’s teleprompter operator, was placed on administrative leave after it was discovered he had bet on dozens of the president’s speeches on Kalshi, ABC News reports. Officials at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the body that currently oversees betting platforms like Kalshi, are reportedly willing to settle with Perez if he returns his winnings.
Perez allegedly bet more than $100,000 on the length of President Trump’s speeches, including the State of the Union address, a speech at the World Economic Forum in January and remarks at a Medal of Honor ceremony in March. “Pérez usually has the last look on almost all of the president’s prepared remarks,” ABC News written, which probably made it easier to place informed bets. As if that wasn’t enough, Perez reportedly backed out of some bets when Trump went off-script.
Kalshi “promptly reported and referred” these transactions to the CFTC, according to a statement provided to ABC Newsand Perez allegedly already confessed to some of the exchanges during an interview with investigators. At a news conference, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president was aware of Perez’s actions and called them “deeply unfortunate” and a “disgrace.” Leavitt added that Perez has been placed on unpaid administrative leave and “won’t be here anymore.”
In April 2026, Kalshi introduced new policies aimed at preventing politicians and athletes from betting on their own elections or games. The company later suspended three political candidates from its platform for violating these same policies. Kalshi introduced additional restrictions in June, requiring users to disclose where they work before placing certain bets.
Attempts to crack down on insider trading may have done little to deter anyone, and states attempting to regulate prediction markets have been blocked. After New Jersey banned Kalshi, a U.S. appeals court ruled that the state did not have the right to ban the platform, putting the power in the hands of the CFTC.
