Gabriel Perez, who ran President Donald Trump’s teleprompter for nearly a decade, has agreed to pay more than $172,000 to settle Commodity Futures Trading Commission charges that he bet on Trump’s own speeches using words he read before anyone else.

Prediction markets have gained rapid popularity in 2026, and this settlement marks the first known case of a White House insider caught trading on such a platform. Kalshi, the platform involved, operates as a CFTC-regulated exchange, which gives the agency jurisdiction over trading abuse on its markets much as it polices futures markets. Regulators have also warned government staff that access to nonpublic information is not a betting edge.

Who placed bets on President Trump’s words?

Gabriel Perez, President Trump’s longtime teleprompter operator, was charged with placing bets on Kalshi’s “mention markets,” where traders guess whether a public figure will utter a specific word or phrase during an event.

Perez held an unfair advantage because he was frequently the last aide to see Trump’s remarks before delivery. The CFTC found that he traded on that confidential text for “his own personal, financial benefit.”

The regulator counted 49 trades between December 2025 and February 2026, of which Perez won 39, clearing more than $107,000. He bet on what Trump might say at the State of the Union, the National Prayer Breakfast, a Medal of Honor ceremony, and assorted rallies.

The CFTC has ordered Perez to disgorge $107,539.02 in trading profits and pay a separate civil penalty of $65,000. Kalshi also banned him from its platform for three years.

The CFTC said Perez’s penalty was reduced because he showed “exemplary co-operation.” The regulator took into account that he voluntarily admitted his guilt in an interview, stating that his trading decisions were indeed based on the confidential information he had learned from reviewing the speeches.

Christy Goldsmith Romero, a former CFTC commissioner appointed under President Joe Biden, said the CFTC missed an opportunity to “send a strong message” to future insider traders.

How was the White House insider caught?

Perez was discovered after Kalshi’s surveillance team spotted abnormal activity on Trump-related mention markets, traced the account, and linked it to a federal employee running White House teleprompters. The matter was then referred to the CFTC.

Bobby DeNault, who heads enforcement at Kalshi, said on X that anyone who violates the company’s rules or federal law would “face the consequences.”

Perez, who had worked for Trump since the 2016 campaign and earned $175,000 a year as a deputy assistant to the president, was placed on unpaid leave in July. Then-press secretary Karoline Leavitt called the conduct “a disgrace,” and by late that month, Perez was reportedly no longer working for the federal government.

Cryptopolitan previously reported that the CFTC settled with former Republican Rep. George Santos in August over a Kalshi contract on whether he would attend the State of the Union.

Federal prosecutors have also charged an Army soldier over Polymarket bets tied to the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, and a Google engineer who made roughly $1.2 million trading on internal search data.

CFTC Chairman Michael Selig, a Trump appointee, has backed the prediction-market industry while also pledging to police insider trading within it. How the agency balances that support with enforcement against politically connected traders is likely to shape how platforms like Kalshi screen for and report suspicious activity going forward.

Sources: CFTC press release, Bobby DeNault on X