Trump’s ex-teleprompter operator fined $172K for betting on speeches
Aug. 29 (UPI) — A former White House teleprompter operator on Friday was fined $172,000 for placing bets on prediction markets using his knowledge of President Donald Trump‘s statements.
Gabriel Perez was ordered to return $107,529 in unlawful trading, earned on the platform Kalshi, and pay a monetary penalty of $65,000, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said.
He is also not allowed to participate in trading for three years.
“The order finds that between December 2025 and February 2026, while working as a teleprompter operator for the White House, Perez traded presidential mention market contracts, which are event contracts reflecting words or phrases the President may use during his speeches,” federal regulars said in a statement.
“In his position, Perez had access to presidential speeches prior to those speeches being delivered and Perez misappropriated that information — in breach of his duty of trust and confidence — to trade presidential mention market contracts, generating over $107,500 in profits.”
Perez had been Trump’s teleprompter operator since 2016. He was earning a $175,000 salary in 2026.
He reportedly made bets on more than a dozen of Trump’s speeches over three months, including the State of the Union and a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Earlier this year, the White House warned staff against participating in prediction markets.
“The White House has strict ethics guidelines that we expect all staffers and officials to follow,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told ABC News.