Trump Teleprompter Operator Leaves White House Amid Kalshi Insider Trading Investigation
The White House employee allegedly used insider knowledge of President Donald Trump's speeches to profit over $100,000 on Kalshi.
Gabriel Perez, the White House teleprompter operator who allegedly used inside information of President Donald Trump’s speeches to profit on Kalshi, no longer works for the federal government, according to the Associated Press.
The AP reported Tuesday, citing a White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity, that Perez “no longer works in the federal government.” The official declined to say whether Perez resigned or the federal government fired him.
The White House had previously placed Perez on administrative leave after reports that he was under investigation by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) over alleged insider trading involving Kalshi’s “Mentions” prediction markets.
Perez Allegedly Profited More Than $100K on Kalshi
The update arrives less than two weeks after ABC News reported that Perez, who had operated Trump’s teleprompter since 2016, allegedly earned more than $100,000 by placing bets on more than a dozen speeches over a three-month period.
The reported trades included markets tied to Trump’s State of the Union address, a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos and remarks delivered during a Medal of Honor ceremony. Perez also allegedly exited bets mid-speech after Trump deviated from prepared remarks and skipped sections that contained words Perez had wagered.
Following the report, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described the allegations as “deeply unfortunate and, frankly, a disgrace.” She confirmed Perez had been placed on unpaid leave.
No Enforcement Action Yet
Neither the CFTC nor the Department of Justice has announced enforcement action against Perez.
According to the ABC report, federal prosecutors declined to pursue criminal charges after the CFTC informed them of the case. The CFTC, meanwhile, allegedly discussed a potential civil settlement with Perez. The settlement would require him to surrender alleged profits and refrain from similar conduct in the future. No settlement has been announced.
Kalshi Head of Enforcement Robert DeNault said on X following the report that the company’s surveillance team had identified the suspicious trading activity before referring the matter to regulators.
The Kalshi surveillance team promptly flagged, investigated and referred these trades to the CFTC. We have been assisting regulators on this matter and provided all evidence that we collected, as we do with any referral.”
DeNault said Kalshi freezes accounts once it identifies suspicious trading. He added that it does not publicly disclose investigations.
If the CFTC ultimately pursues enforcement action against Perez, the case would become the latest high-profile insider-trading prediction-market case.
However, unlike the agency’s recent cases against a U.S. Army Special Forces soldier accused of trading on confidential information relating to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and a former Google employee accused of using internal search data, the allegations against Perez center on advance access to information that was ultimately intended to become public.
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