CFTC fines former White House aide $172,000 for trading on Trump speech information

Gabriel Perez, a former White House teleprompter operator, has been ordered to pay over $172,000 for using inside information to trade on US President Donald Trump's speeches. According to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Perez had access to Trump's speeches before they were delivered and used that information to make trades on a prediction markets platform called Kalshi.

Perez made trades on event contracts that paid out based on whether Trump used specific words or phrases in his speeches between December 2025 and February 2026. The CFTC said Perez misappropriated his prior knowledge of Trump's speeches to place bets, breaching his duty of trust and confidence. As a result, Perez must repay $107,539.02 in profits and pay a $65,000 civil penalty.

The CFTC also banned Perez from trading for three years, and he agreed to cease and desist from further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations. The penalty was reduced due to Perez's "exemplary co-operation" with the investigation, according to the CFTC.

Brief written by urgent.news from CNBC, The Island Sri Lanka, Investing.com, Live Mint — 4 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.