Trump’s teleprompter operator allegedly made US$90,000 betting on his speeches

A teleprompter operator for Donald Trump has been suspended over allegations he placed bets with a prediction market on the content of the US president’s speeches, the White House said on Friday.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the teleprompter operator was put on unpaid administrative leave on the orders of the president. Leavitt later added that he would no longer be working at the White House.

Gabriel Perez is ⁠under investigation by federal regulators over potential ⁠insider trading on prediction market platform Kalshi, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

Kalshi identified the suspicious trading activity through information collected as part of its customer onboarding and market surveillance processes and referred the matter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), one of the ‌sources said.

“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,” Robert DeNault, head of enforcement at Kalshi, said in a statement.

Perez, the teleprompter operator, is fully cooperating with the CFTC on this matter, the second person said. The sources requested anonymity ⁠because the matter is confidential.