Trump Teleprompter Operator Investigated Over Kalshi Bets

A White House teleprompter operator is under investigation by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission for allegedly earning about $100,000 on Kalshi prediction markets tied to the specific words in President Donald Trump's speeches. Gabriel Perez, a deputy assistant to the president who has run Trump's teleprompter since his first campaign, has been placed on unpaid administrative leave, banned from Kalshi, and is now in settlement talks with the CFTC. It is the first known White House insider trading inquiry involving a regulated prediction market.

The case has landed at the center of a long-running fight over whether "mention markets" and event contracts belong under commodities law at all, and whether the CFTC has the appetite to police them. It arrives while Kalshi is fighting battles with state regulators and expanding fast, and while watchdog Public Citizen renews its demand that the agency treat these venues like any other market where trading on non-public information is illegal.

What exactly is Gabriel Perez accused of doing?

Perez is accused of betting on Kalshi contracts about whether Trump would say certain words in upcoming speeches, using advance knowledge of the scripts he loaded into the teleprompter. According to NPR, Perez has been a deputy assistant to the president and Trump's teleprompter operator since the 2016 campaign, on a reported annual salary of $175,000. Kalshi's surveillance flagged unusual betting patterns, then traced the account to a serving federal employee and referred the matter to regulators.

The core allegation is textbook insider trading applied to a novel venue: a person with access to material, non-public information (the exact words a president planned to use) allegedly traded on contracts whose payout depended on those words. What makes it unusual is the market, not the mechanic.

How much money is involved?

Perez allegedly earned close to $100,000 in profit, of which Kalshi froze roughly $90,000, according to NPR's reporting. Those figures sit inside a much larger pool: NPR reported that traders wagered more than $800,000 on the "mention markets" covering words Trump might say. Perez's profit was a fraction of total volume, but the timing and win rate are what triggered the review.

• About $100,000: the profit Perez allegedly made on Kalshi speech markets (NPR, July 2026).
• Around $90,000: the amount of those winnings Kalshi froze after its investigation (NPR, July 2026).
• More than $800,000: total wagered on Kalshi "mention markets" over Trump's speech wording (NPR, July 2026).
• $175,000: Perez's reported annual White House salary as deputy assistant to the president (NPR, July 2026).

What are Kalshi "mention markets"?

Mention markets are contracts on whether a public figure will say a specific word or phrase during a defined event. On Kalshi, bettors traded on whether Trump would utter terms such as "Hormuz," "rigged election," or "fake news" during public remarks. Each contract settles yes or no based on what is actually said, which makes anyone with the prepared text a person holding price-moving information before the market does.

That design is exactly why the case is drawing scrutiny. In a normal news market, no single trader controls the outcome. In a mention market on a scripted speech, a small circle of staff effectively knows the answer in advance.

What is the CFTC's role and where does the case stand?

The CFTC regulates Kalshi as a designated contract market, which is why a betting dispute becomes a federal matter. According to NPR, the agency is in settlement discussions with Perez rather than pursuing a courtroom fight so far. Perez has been banned from the platform and placed on unpaid leave from the White House while the process runs.

A settlement, if reached, would likely involve disgorgement of profits and penalties rather than an admission that reshapes the law. That is part of what frustrates critics: they want rulemaking and clear enforcement standards, not a quiet deal.

How did Kalshi catch it?

Kalshi says its own surveillance flagged the trades first. The company examines timing, win-rate irregularities, and behavioral patterns, then escalates suspicious accounts. Kalshi's head of enforcement described the process directly.

"Our surveillance team promptly flagged and referred these trades to the CFTC after an exchange investigation," said Robert DeNault, Kalshi's head of enforcement.

Kalshi has said violations can lead to disgorgement, fines, multi-year suspensions, or permanent bans. The company has continued to offer markets on Trump's remarks even after the case surfaced, which is itself part of the controversy.

What did the White House say?

The White House distanced itself from Perez quickly. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called the alleged conduct "a disgrace," and Perez was placed on unpaid administrative leave. The response signals that the administration is treating this as individual misconduct rather than a policy question, even as outside groups frame it as a systemic one.

Why are watchdogs like Public Citizen so alarmed?

Consumer group Public Citizen argues the Perez case is a symptom, not the disease. The group has repeatedly pressed the CFTC to enforce insider trading law across prediction markets, pointing to suspiciously well-timed large bets around major geopolitical events. Its government affairs lobbyist put it bluntly.

"This is further evidence of illegal insider trading on the prediction markets, an industry that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has let operate like the Wild West," said Craig Holman of Public Citizen.

Public Citizen said it filed an insider trading complaint with the CFTC on March 5, 2026, over the timing and accuracy of large bets placed shortly before major events, and it is now calling on the agency to open investigations, conduct rulemaking, and enforce the law rather than settle case by case. You can read the group's full statement here.

Is this the first prediction market insider trading case?

No. It is the first known one reaching into the White House, but similar cases have surfaced elsewhere. NPR cited a US Army soldier who allegedly profited about $400,000 and a Google engineer who allegedly made roughly $1.2 million on prediction markets before their activity drew scrutiny. The pattern is consistent: someone with early access to an outcome trades a contract on that outcome.

Case	Alleged profit	Source of edge
Gabriel Perez, White House teleprompter operator	About $100,000	Advance knowledge of speech wording
US Army soldier	About $400,000	Reported non-public information
Google engineer	About $1.2 million	Reported non-public information

Figures per NPR reporting, July 2026. The comparison shows the Perez sums are modest by the standard of earlier cases, which is part of why critics say the real exposure is much larger than any single account.

How does this fit Kalshi's wider legal fights?

The insider trading probe lands while Kalshi is already fighting on multiple fronts. The company has clashed with states over whether its event contracts are legal sports betting or federally regulated derivatives, and earlier in July the CFTC ordered Kalshi to honor Michigan trades in one such standoff. Prediction markets are also going mainstream in other ways, with ChatGPT now showing Kalshi odds in search results. The Perez case adds an integrity question on top of the jurisdiction question.

Why does the outcome matter for the whole industry?

Because the answer will help define whether prediction markets are trusted enough to scale. If regulated event contracts are seen as riggable by insiders, mainstream partners, payment providers, and cautious regulators pull back. If the CFTC sets a clear enforcement standard, the industry gets the legitimacy it has been chasing. Rivals are watching too, with the Congressional probe into Polymarket and new frameworks such as Gibraltar's dedicated prediction markets regulation all shaping how these venues get policed.

What happens next?

The immediate path is a possible CFTC settlement with Perez, which would resolve the individual case without setting broad precedent. The larger question stays open: whether the CFTC will move from case-by-case settlements to formal rules on who may trade event contracts and on what information. Expect continued pressure from Public Citizen, more scrutiny of mention markets tied to scripted events, and more disclosure from Kalshi about how its surveillance works.

Key takeaways

• Gabriel Perez, a White House teleprompter operator, is under CFTC investigation over about $100,000 in Kalshi profits on Trump speech markets.
• Kalshi flagged and referred the trades itself and froze roughly $90,000 of the winnings.
• It is the first known White House prediction market insider trading inquiry, following earlier cases involving a soldier and a Google engineer.
• Public Citizen is pressing the CFTC for rulemaking and enforcement, not just settlements.

Updated July 2026. iGaming Daily News is following the Kalshi insider trading investigation and the wider CFTC debate over prediction markets, and will update this report as the case develops.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Gabriel Perez?

Gabriel Perez is a deputy assistant to President Trump and has operated the president's teleprompter since the 2016 campaign, on a reported $175,000 annual salary. He is under CFTC investigation over Kalshi trades and has been placed on unpaid administrative leave.

How much did he allegedly make on Kalshi?

He allegedly earned about $100,000 in profit on Kalshi markets tied to the words in Trump's speeches. Kalshi froze roughly $90,000 of those winnings, according to NPR.

What is a Kalshi mention market?

A mention market is a contract on whether a public figure will say a specific word or phrase during an event, for example whether Trump would say "Hormuz" or "fake news" in a speech. It settles yes or no based on what is actually said.

Is Kalshi still offering these markets?

Yes. Kalshi has continued to offer contracts on Trump's remarks even after the Perez case became public, which critics have questioned given the insider trading concerns.

What could happen to Perez?

He is in settlement talks with the CFTC, which could involve giving up his profits and paying penalties. He has already been banned from Kalshi and placed on unpaid leave from the White House.