Trump Teleprompter Operator Made $100,000 Betting on Words in Presidential Speeches

^{Gabriel Perez / Donald Trump}

The White House has suspended Gabriel Perez, who had served as Donald Trump’s regular teleprompter operator since 2016. According to ABC News, Perez is suspected of using advance access to presidential speech scripts to profit from prediction markets on Kalshi.

The platform’s security team detected the unusual trading activity. Over a three-month period, Perez bought contracts on whether Trump would use certain words or phrases during live appearances. He traded on markets linked to more than 12 Trump speeches, including the president’s State of the Union address in February and his appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January.

Perez’s total winnings exceeded $100,000. However, Trump’s tendency to depart from prepared remarks reportedly forced the operator to cancel or adjust positions during live broadcasts.

The timing of those trades raised suspicions, as Perez frequently changed or closed positions while Trump was speaking. The rapid increase in his profits also attracted the attention of the platform’s security team. In addition, Kalshi tightened its identity verification procedures in June, requiring users to disclose their place of employment.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Perez had been placed on unpaid administrative leave at Trump’s direction. She said the president had described the incident as “a disgrace.”

“We have extremely strict ethics rules that prohibit conduct of this kind,” Leavitt told ABC News.

The matter is expected to be resolved through civil proceedings. During its investigation, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission referred information about Perez’s activities to federal prosecutors in Manhattan, but they declined to pursue criminal charges. Perez later testified before regulators and acknowledged making some of the trades under review.

According to ABC News sources, the parties are discussing a settlement that would require Perez to return all profits earned from the trades and agree not to engage in similar activity in the future.