White House teleprompter operator allegedly profited from Trump speech bets

A White House teleprompter operator allegedly made nearly $100,000 betting on Donald Trump’s speeches on Kalshi, putting the president’s event schedule and speech logistics at the center of a growing Washington ethics fight. NBC News identified the worker as Gabriel Perez, a technical assistant to the president, and said he is in talks to settle with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The alleged profits were tied to more than a dozen Trump speeches, including the State of the Union address. NBC News put the gain at more than $90,000, while ABC News said sources believed Perez cleared more than $100,000 from the wagers. The bets were not about Trump’s policies or legislative plans, but about the timing and mechanics of his public remarks, a narrower kind of edge that can still move event-based contracts.

That detail is what gives the case its force. A staffer with access to speech logistics can learn when a president is likely to appear, how long remarks may run, and whether an event may be delayed or shortened, all information that is not public when bets are placed. In prediction markets, that kind of nonpublic timing advantage can be monetized without ever trading on the substance of the speech itself.

The allegation lands as White House staff are already under explicit instruction not to use inside information on prediction markets. A March 24 email warned employees against placing bets with nonpublic information, underscoring how quickly event-based wagering has created a new compliance problem for federal workers who sit close to schedules, travel, and advance planning.

The controversy also comes as Kalshi and Polymarket have become a focus in Washington, where lawmakers and regulators are paying closer attention to insider-trading risks and the rules governing these platforms. The case has sharpened questions about whether White House ethics rules and federal oversight are built for a market where access to timing, logistics, and internal calendars can be as valuable as policy insight.

Perez’s settlement talks with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission suggest the issue is moving beyond an internal personnel matter and into federal enforcement territory, with event markets now testing the boundaries of what counts as inside information.