A former White House teleprompter operator, Gabriel Perez, is ordered to pay a total of about $172,000 after federal regulators said he used advance access to President Donald Trump’s speeches to place bets on an online prediction market before the speeches were delivered. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) says the trades were made for his personal benefit and that he must turn over profits.
Multiple outlets report that the bets were placed on contracts tied to what Trump would say or how certain phrases would appear in his speeches, using the Kalshi prediction-market platform. Sources agree that Perez had access to the text of the speeches prior to delivery through his teleprompter role and that regulators viewed this access as “material, nonpublic information.”
Reporting differs mainly in how the fine and forfeiture are expressed and in what emphasis is given—some outlets highlight insider trading allegations and the settlement amount, while others focus on the amount of profits and the wager’s prediction-market framing. However, all accounts describe the CFTC action, the prohibition on trading based on nonpublic information, and the settlement structure requiring payment of penalties and profits.
