Secret betting on Trump's speeches takes decisive turn, staffer slapped with stiff penalty
WASHINGTON, DC: The matter of President Donald Trump’s teleprompter operator betting on his speeches on betting apps has taken a decisive turn as the former Trump staffer has been ordered to pay an eye-popping penalty for the misconduct.
White House teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez was suspended for using his advance knowledge of President Donald Trump's speeches to place profitable bets on the prediction platform Kalshi.
NEW: Regulatory filings show Trump’s former teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez ordered to pay $172,000 for using the president’s prepared remarks to trade on Kalshi’s “mention markets.” Kalshi also suspended him for three years. pic.twitter.com/8hGQqUZihK
— Bobby Allyn (@BobbyAllyn) August 29, 2026
Trump's former staffer slapped with $172K penalty
The Trump administration settled the insider-trading case on Friday, August 28, ordering Perez to pay a $172K penalty.
The total amount of $172,000 includes the profits he made, $107,539.02, along with a civil penalty of $65,000.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) took action against Perez after the gambling website Kalshi reported unusual activity to its regulator.
A White House teleprompter operator was ordered to pay $172,000 after using nonpublic information about Trump’s upcoming speeches to place prediction-market bets on Kalshi.
— Clash Report (@clashreport) August 29, 2026
Gabriel Perez must repay $107,539 in profits, pay a $65,000 fine, and is banned from prediction-market… pic.twitter.com/fXrw3yN4Ix
The CFTC said Gabriel Perez used “material, nonpublic information” gained through his job to place “trades” on a prediction market.
The Commission on Friday issued a press release saying that it had settled the matter with Perez, who had worked for Trump since 2016 until his wagers became public this year.
“Under the order, Perez must disgorge the profits he made from his unlawful trading totaling $107,539.02 and pay a civil monetary penalty of $65,000, representing a substantial discount under the Division of Enforcement’s new cooperation advisory because of Perez’s exemplary cooperation with the CFTC,” the statement said.
“Perez agreed to cease and desist from further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations. Under the order, a three-year trading ban is imposed on Perez,” the statement further read.
Gabriel Perez placed bets on several Trump speeches
Perez used the Kalshi app to place bets on “more than a dozen” of Trump’s speeches. Perez hauled in more than $100,000 in the site’s “Mentions” market, where bettors can place wagers on whether particular words, phrases, or topics will be mentioned in a given public speech.
Trump’s several popular speeches, including the State of the Union address, an address at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, and a Medal of Honor ceremony in March, were part of Perez's bets during the three months.
The trades were made through Kalshi, which the CFTC noted cooperated with the investigation.
“A Kalshi surveillance investigation caught a White House staffer engaging in prohibited trading activity. Today this individual was subjected to penalties by the CFTC and by our exchange,” Bobby DeNault, Kalshi’s lead lawyer, said in a post on social media platform X.
