A White House teleprompter operator is under investigation after allegedly gambling on U.S. President Trump's speech using insider information, earning over $100,000.
On 16 Jul 2026 GMT+7, a White House teleprompter operator is being investigated for allegedly using insider information to place bets that yielded nearly $100,000 by predicting President Donald Trump's speech content.
The official, Gabriel Perez, who has worked at the White House since 2016, is accused of secretly betting on which words the President would use during major public speeches, including the annual State of the Union address.
These prediction contracts were traded on Kalshi, a prediction market platform that allows users to bet on real-world events. The company confirmed it reported the suspicious activity to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the regulator overseeing the platform.
It was reported that Kalshi suspended Perez's account before he could withdraw any profits.
Kalshi told the BBC that company analysts noticed unusual betting patterns in the "speech prediction market" as early as March. This market allows users to wager on whether speakers will use specific common words such as particular country names, economic terms, or campaign slogans.
Upon reviewing user data, the company found that the bettor was a federal employee operating the White House teleprompter. The platform froze more than $90,000 in funds before any withdrawals were made.
White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt stated that President Trump is aware of the teleprompter operator's case. The employee has been suspended without pay, and Perez will not return to work at the White House.
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Source:bbc