Gabriel Perez, President Donald Trump's teleprompter operator, has been placed on unpaid administrative leave after investigators discovered he placed bets on dozens of the president's speeches through the prediction market platform Kalshi.
Perez allegedly made more than $100,000 wagering on the length of 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. According to a report by ABC News, Perez typically has the final eyes on nearly all of the president's prepared remarks, which gave him an informational edge when placing bets. Investigators also found that Perez backed out of certain bets when Trump went off script, a detail that pointed investigators toward his access to advance speech content.
Kalshi flagged the trades and referred them to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the federal body that currently oversees prediction market platforms. Perez has reportedly already confessed to some of the trades during an interview with investigators. Officials from the CFTC are reportedly willing to settle with Perez if he returns his winnings.
At a press conference, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president was aware of Perez's actions. Leavitt called them "deeply unfortunate" and a "disgrace," and confirmed Perez had been put on unpaid administrative leave and would "no longer be here."
Kalshi has taken steps over the past several months to address conflicts of interest on its platform. In April 2026, the company introduced new policies to prevent politicians and athletes from betting on their own elections or games. It later suspended three political candidates from its platform for breaking those same rules. In June, Kalshi introduced further restrictions requiring users to disclose where they work before placing certain bets.
Those measures have not stopped controversy surrounding prediction markets more broadly. When New Jersey moved to ban Kalshi outright, a US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the state had no right to do so, leaving regulatory authority firmly with the CFTC. That decision limits what individual states can do to restrict platforms like Kalshi, even as insider trading concerns grow.
The CFTC's willingness to settle rather than pursue criminal charges against Perez means the case may close with repayment rather than prosecution. No timeline for that settlement has been reported.