Points of Focus

• Trump’s teleprompter operator allegedly earned over $100,000 on Kalshi’s speech prediction markets.
• Kalshi referred the trading activity to the CFTC after detecting unusual patterns.
• The investigation comes as regulators increase scrutiny of insider trading in prediction markets.

US President Donald Trump’s longtime teleprompter operator has been placed on unpaid administrative leave after allegedly using nonpublic access to the president’s prepared speeches to make more than $100,000 on Kalshi prediction markets, according to ABC News.

Gabriel Perez, who has operated Trump’s teleprompter since the 2016 campaign, is in settlement talks with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The investigation adds to a growing list of insider trading cases tied to prediction markets, where traders wager on the outcome of real-world events.

🇺🇸 Trump's teleprompter operator has been betting on Trump's speeches

Gabriel Perez, who has operated Trump's teleprompter since 2016, allegedly made over $100K on prediction market Kalshi by betting on which words the president would say before he said them.

He placed bets on… pic.twitter.com/5AIruEUl11

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) July 16, 2026

CFTC probe centers on Trump’s prepared speeches

Sources cited by ABC News said investigators linked Perez to trades placed across more than a dozen Trump speeches over three months, including the February State of the Union address, the January World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, and a March Medal of Honor ceremony. Investigators also alleged Perez exited some positions during speeches after Trump deviated from prepared remarks.

Kalshi said its internal surveillance systems detected unusual trading patterns and referred the activity to the CFTC. Bobby DeNault, the company’s head of enforcement, said the exchange cooperated with regulators after identifying suspicious trades involving its mention markets.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later confirmed Perez had been placed on unpaid administrative leave, saying President Trump considered the allegations “a disgrace.” A White House spokesperson also said staff are expected to follow strict ethics guidelines.

Kalshi insider trading safeguards face real-world test

The investigation comes as US regulators increase scrutiny of prediction markets following several recent insider trading cases tied to event-based contracts. Kalshi prohibits users from trading on material nonpublic information obtained through their employment and recently expanded its compliance program by requiring employment disclosures for certain users.

The Perez investigation follows other recent enforcement actions involving prediction markets. Earlier this year, federal prosecutors charged a US Army Special Forces soldier over Polymarket trades linked to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, while a Google employee separately faced charges tied to contracts based on confidential search data.

Unlike those cases, prosecutors in Manhattan reportedly declined to open a criminal investigation, while settlement discussions between Perez and the CFTC remain ongoing. According to ABC News, regulators have discussed terms that would require him to surrender alleged profits and refrain from similar trading activity in the future.

The investigation also arrives as Kalshi expands compliance measures for sensitive markets, including employment disclosures for certain traders, while regulators continue examining how prediction market platforms can limit trading based on nonpublic information.