White House Teleprompter Operator Suspended After Profiting From Bets On Trump Speeches

A White House teleprompter operator has been placed on leave after he allegedly made around $100,000 from bets on speeches given by President Trump.

Gabriel Perez, a technical assistant to Trump and teleprompter since 2016, is reportedly in discussions with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission about a settlement. Investigators from the regulatory body determined that he profited by placing bets on Kalshi using his insider knowledge of what would be said during speeches.

The investigation and suspension were reported by multiple news outlets Thursday and confirmed by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt during a briefing later in the day. The development is a timely one given Trump’s planned address to the nation on Thursday night. The speech has not been confirmed to be airing on U.S. broadcast networks amid concerns about the president possibly using the platform to promote false information about election fraud.

Kalshi and its chief rival Polymarket are prediction markets where bets can be placed not just on sporting events but on politics, weather and a range of other events. Perez is believed to have focused his bets on Kalshi’s “mentions” market, which focuses on whether certain words or phrases will be used in awards acceptance speeches, political remarks and in other settings.

“Obviously, I’m aware of the report. The president is too. We spoke about it. He believes it is deeply unfortunate and, frankly, a disgrace,” Leavitt said. “The individual cited in that report is complying with the CFTC but has been put on administrative leave. So, there will be a teleprompter operator tonight, of course, but it won’t be the one, fortunately, in that story.”

Asked about how the administration plans to avert future problems with the prompter operator, Leavitt replied, “The White House has extremely strict ethical guidelines with respect to issues like this. And, as I just told you, this individual will no longer be here. … That was a decision by the president, so I think that speaks for itself.”

After initially saying Perez would be on paid leave, Leavitt later clarified that the leave would be unpaid.