Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issues a ban preventing U.S. military personnel and Pentagon staff from using nonpublic information to place wagers tied to forthcoming U.S. military operations on prediction-market platforms such as Polymarket and Kalshi.
Multiple outlets report that Hegseth frames the rule as a security measure, warning that adversaries monitor these markets and could use bet-related signals to track U.S. movements. CBS News and The Hill also describe the restriction as covering both classified and unclassified information and point to the contents of a memo. The Hill further emphasizes that the ban applies broadly across Pentagon staff.
While the core substance is consistent across coverage—an order limiting betting based on undisclosed information and an emphasis on operational security—the outlets vary in how they foreground the rationale and the scope details, such as whether they specify both classified and unclassified categories.
