A former White House teleprompter operator has been ordered to pay more than $172,000 after using advance knowledge of US President Donald Trump’s speeches to place bets on what he would say.
Gabriel Perez made trades between December 2025 and February 2026 on prediction market platform Kalshi, where users can wager on real-world events, according to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
The regulator said Perez used prior knowledge of Trump’s speeches to place bets, describing his actions as a misappropriation of information in breach of his duty of trust and confidence.
Under a settlement announced Friday, Perez has been ordered to surrender $107,539.02 in profits and pay a $65,000 civil penalty. He has also been banned from trading for three years.
The CFTC said the penalty was reduced due to Perez’s “exemplary cooperation” with the investigation.
Kalshi had previously identified unusual activity involving so-called “mention markets,” where users bet on whether speakers will use particular words or phrases.
The company said account information led it to identify the trader as a federal employee who operated White House teleprompters, prompting it to report the activity to regulators.
Perez was placed on unpaid leave and would not return to his White House position, then-press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in July.
The White House has yet to comment on the CFTC settlement. (NewsWire)