Ex-White House teleprompter operator ordered to pay $172,000 over Trump speech bets

Former White House teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez has been ordered to pay more than $172,000 after using information about US President Donald Trump’s speeches to place bets on a prediction market, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said.

Perez made trades on Kalshi, a prediction markets platform, based on what Trump would say during speeches between December 2025 and February 2026, according to the CFTC, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

Under a settlement announced on August 28, Perez must surrender $107,539.02 in profits and pay a $65,000 civil penalty. He has also been barred from trading for three years.

The CFTC said Perez had "misappropriated" his prior knowledge of Trump's speeches to place bets "in breach of his duty of trust and confidence".

The regulator said the penalty was reduced because of Perez’s "exemplary co-operation" with its investigation.

Kalshi had previously said that its analysts detected unusual betting activity in March involving “mention markets”, in which users predict whether speakers will use particular words or phrases. The company said it identified the trader as a federal employee operating White House teleprompters and reported the activity to the CFTC.

Writing on X, Kalshi's lead lawyer Bobby DeNault said: "It doesn't matter who you are: violate our rules or federal law and you will face the consequences."

The White House did not immediately comment. Then-press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in July that Perez had been placed on unpaid leave and would not return to his post.

The White House Management Office also sent a letter to aides in July warning them against placing bets on prediction markets.