A White House teleprompter operator used the prediction market Kalshi to trade on whether President Donald Trump would say particular words in his speeches, according to ABC News.
Gabriel Perez, a technical assistant to Trump, made more than $100,000 in profits from those trades, according to the investigation. The report has triggered a new round of scrutiny about whether the trades amount to insider trading and whether federal rules were broken by a government employee who had advance knowledge of the president’s remarks.
Kalshi’s surveillance systems reportedly flagged Perez’s trades in March. The prediction markets operator notified the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and froze his account. The parties are reportedly in discussions for a settlement.
In March, the White House warned staff against using insider information on prediction markets while multiple attempts to shut down insider trading launched.
How the trades worked
According to ABC, Perez works in the teleprompter unit and used Kalshi to bet on whether Trump would say specific words in his speeches, including high-profile terms that could move the markets.
Perez allegedly wagered on more than a dozen Trump speeches over three months, including the State of the Union address in February. Perez has worked on Trump’s teleprompter since 2016 and is often among the last person to see speech drafts.
Perez’s use of prediction markets puts Kalshi and the broader prediction markets industry back under a microscope regarding insider trading. Kalshi has worked to position itself as a CFTC-regulated exchange with surveillance and compliance controls, but the allegations suggest that at least some users may have been able to exploit government access for profit.
It also adds to the existing political pressure on prediction markets, which already face legal fights over whether they are state-regulated gambling or federally preempted financial instruments.
Kalshi staying quiet for now
Kalshi said it was cooperating with relevant authorities and that it would not comment further on an ongoing matter, according to multiple outlets.
The CFTC, which oversees Kalshi as a designated contract market, has not yet announced any action, but the agency has already been active in investigating prediction markets and policing abusive conduct.
It’s not the first government insider trading case. Recently. the Department of Justice brought a case forward on a special forces soldier who bet on the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The DOJ also brought a case of a Google employee who allegedly used company data to bet on user searches.
Earlier this year, three political candidates settled with Kalshi after they were caught wagering on their own races.
The CFTC is also investigating Polymarket over misleading marketing.
