Gabriel Perez, a former teleprompter operator at the White House, has been ordered to settle charges related to insider trading on prediction markets. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission determined that Perez used advance knowledge of President Donald Trump’s speeches to place bets on Kalshi, a platform where users wager on real-world events. The trades occurred between December 2025 and February 2026.
The settlement requires Perez to surrender $107,539.02 in profits and pay a civil penalty of $65,000. The CFTC stated that Perez had “misappropriated” his prior knowledge of the president’s addresses in violation of his fiduciary duties. The regulator noted that the penalty amount was reduced because of Perez’s cooperation during the investigation. Additionally, Perez faces a three-year ban from trading activities.
Kalshi’s analysts detected the suspicious betting activity in March, focusing on what the company calls “mention markets”—contracts where participants predict whether a speaker will use specific terms, countries, or campaign slogans. After identifying the account holder as a federal employee operating White House teleprompters, the platform reported the activity to authorities. Kalshi’s leadership stated that the case demonstrates enforcement applies equally regardless of an individual’s position, with the company’s lead lawyer emphasizing that violations of company rules or federal law carry consequences.
Following the discovery, the White House Management Office sent guidance to staff in July advising them against participating in prediction market betting. The White House has not made public comments regarding the settlement. Earlier this month, the press office indicated that Perez had been placed on unpaid leave and would not return to his previous role.
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