Gabriel Perez, President Trump's teleprompter operator since 2016, has been placed on unpaid leave after reports that he used insider knowledge to place winning bets on the online prediction market Kalshi, netting more than $100,000.
The prediction platform flagged the suspicious trades and referred them to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates such betting activity.
The White House called the situation "unfortunate" and stated it maintains "extremely strict ethical guidelines."
What happened
Gabriel Perez, who has operated Trump's teleprompter since 2016, is on unpaid leave after ABC News reported he used inside knowledge to win more than $100,000 betting on what the president would say in speeches on the prediction market Kalshi. Kalshi's enforcement chief said the platform flagged and referred the trades to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Why it matters
The incident highlights the ethical risks of administration insiders profiting from their access to the president's remarks. Kalshi's policy prohibits betting based on information users gain through their job, and the White House press secretary called the situation "unfortunate" and "a disgrace," asserting the administration has "extremely strict ethical guidelines."
What to watch
The case is now with federal regulators at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which has authority over such matters. Kalshi recently began requiring users to disclose their place of employment, tightening oversight of such trades.
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The case underscores the tension between administrative insiders' access to nonpublic information and the rules designed to prevent them from profiting from it. Kalshi's "Mentions" market had operated without robust employment-disclosure requirements until recently; the platform now requires users to disclose their place of employment and explicitly prohibits betting based on job-related information. Perez's alleged trades—placing bets on specific words and phrases in the president's speeches—exploited the informational advantage of operating the teleprompter from which Trump reads. The White House's characterization of the situation as "unfortunate" and a "disgrace," coupled with its assertion of "extremely strict ethical guidelines," reflects an attempt to distance the administration from the conduct while signaling that enforcement mechanisms exist. However, the broader context—in which Trump's own financial disclosures show $1.2 billion（約1900億円） in crypto profits in 2025, including more than $500 million（約800億円） from World Liberty Financial and over $600 million（約960億円） from CIC Digital's "meme" coin sales, both of which have fallen sharply since launch—suggests that profiting from the presidency remains a live issue within the administration's orbit.
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