Gabriel Perez, President Trump's long-serving teleprompter operator, is currently under investigation by federal regulators, specifically the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), for potential insider trading. Sources familiar with the matter indicate that Perez allegedly used his access to advance knowledge of the President's speeches to place bets on the prediction market platform Kalshi. This activity reportedly allowed him to win more than $100,000.
The suspicious trading was first flagged by Kalshi, which then referred its findings to the CFTC. Kalshi's internal surveillance systems detected unusual trading patterns in Perez's account, leading them to freeze his account and lock up over $90,000 in profits. Perez had reportedly placed bets on Kalshi's "Mentions" market, where users can wager on whether specific words or phrases will be used during public speeches. This activity spanned more than a dozen Trump speeches over a three-month period, including the State of the Union, a December primetime address, and a January speech at the World Economic Forum.
Perez, who has been cooperative with the investigation, is in discussions with the CFTC for a potential settlement. The terms of a settlement could involve Perez returning his illicit gains and agreeing to refrain from similar trades in the future. The White House has placed Perez on unpaid administrative leave, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stating that President Trump considered his actions a "disgrace." In March, the White House also issued an internal memo warning staff against using nonpublic information for prediction market betting, highlighting the seriousness of such offenses.
This case marks the first known instance of a White House employee being investigated for alleged insider trading on prediction markets. While the CFTC is pursuing a settlement, federal prosecutors in Manhattan, who were alerted to the situation, have declined to open a criminal investigation. Kalshi has a policy prohibiting users from betting based on work-related information and has since updated its policies to require users to disclose their place of employment.
