White House Teleprompter Operator Placed Bets On Trump Speeches

A White House teleprompter operator is currently under federal investigation for placing Kalshi bets on President Donald Trump’s speeches. 

Crazy that a teleprompter operator is facing more consequences for financial benefit from his job than the actual President of the United States.

NPR reports that Gabriel Perez is currently in settlement talks with federal regulators for allegedly making close to $100,000 on “mention bets.” The rise of prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket, which allow you to bet on just about anything, has seen “mention markets” become incredibly popular. These are bets on whether or not a public figure will mention a certain word in their speech. 

Considering that Perez had firsthand access to what Trump would say during his speeches, it’s not hard to see how he made nearly six figures on Kalshi. This was problematic because Kalshi’s policies prohibit placing bets using nonpublic information. The White House also published a memo in March warning administration officials from using nonpublic information to place bets on prediction markets. 

Kalshi decided to take action on Perez’s accounts after noticing an unusual pattern in Perez’s mention bets. 

“Our surveillance team promptly flagged and referred these trades to the CFTC after an exchange investigation. We have been assisting regulators on this matter and provided evidence we collected, as we do in any referral,” said Robert DeNault, who heads enforcement at Kalshi. 

After Perez’s trades were discovered, Kalshi froze about $90,000 in profits he had made and banned him from making trades on the platform. The White House has placed Perez on unpaid administrative leave, and it’s still unclear what consequences he may face. There’s no word on whether the Department of Justice will investigate the matter as well. 

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Trump called the incident “deeply unfortunate and frankly a disgrace.” 

Trump’s lack of self-awareness will never cease to amaze me. It’s absurd that he can call dude a disgrace in the same week he announced he’d be selling investors priority access to Truth Social posts that could move markets. He learned it from watching you! 

“There are very strict ethical guidelines here at the White House that explicitly state not to do this, and the White House counsel’s office makes that clear to all of us who sign up to work in government on behalf of the president, so I think there has been a plan in place. This individual, unfortunately violated the plan, and therefore he’s paying the consequences for it,” Leavitt added. 

Apparently, those strict, ethical guidelines don’t apply to Trump. 

Since taking office, Trump has essentially turned the White House into his personal ATM. Trump has made thousands of stock trades while in office, often before making policy decisions that would affect the stock’s price. Compare that to former President Joe Biden, who only made 13 trades during his four years in office. Trump has also taken to promoting companies on Truth Social shortly after buying their stock. 

So the leader of the free world, using his position to enrich himself and his family, is perfectly fine, but we draw the line when a teleprompter operator does the same thing. Got it. 

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