White House teleprompter operator fined, forfeits winnings for betting on Trump’s words
A former White House teleprompter operator accused of using inside knowledge to make bets on the prediction market Kalshi has been ordered to turn over more than US$100,000 in profits and pay a US$65,000 fine as part of a settlement with federal authorities. The settlement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, announced on Friday, also dealt Gabriel Perez a three-year trading ban. Perez…
A former White House teleprompter operator, Gabriel Perez, has been fined over US$100,000 and ordered to surrender profits exceeding US$107,500 for allegedly using inside information to place bets on President Donald Trump's speech content, according to a settlement with federal authorities. This comes after Perez was placed on unpaid leave from his White House job following reports of his misuse of knowledge gained from presidential speeches.
Perez was prohibited from trading presidential "mention market" contracts on Kalshi between December 2025 and February 2026, as his actions were deemed a breach of trust and confidence in his official capacity. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission imposed a three-year trading ban on Perez, reducing the civil penalty from its original amount due to his "exemplary cooperation".
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt expressed disappointment over the matter, describing it as "unfortunate" and "a disgrace".
Written by urgent.news from South China Morning Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
This story
This is one outlet's version. Read the fullest account.
- Another setback for Indian techies? White House seeks to abolish 60-day grace period for H-1B visa workers hindustantimes.com
- White House construction played part in Trump helicopter incident, safety officials say peopledaily.digital
- White House construction played part in Trump helicopter incident, safety officials say theguardian.com
- Trump's helicopter got too close to jet after White House building work affected radio calls news.sky.com
