Trump's teleprompter operator made more than $100K betting on his speeches: Sources

White House's longterm teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez was placed on unpaid administrative leave in July 2026 after federal investigators launched a probe into his use of insider information to win roughly $100,000 in online bets.

Gabriel Perez, who has operated Donald Trump’s teleprompters since 2016, has been placed on unpaid administrative leave.

He is currently under federal investigation for allegedly using advance access to Trump's draft speeches to make more than $100,000 on prediction markets.

Kalshi identified the suspicious trading activity through information collected as part of its customer onboarding and market surveillance processes and referred the matter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, one of the sources said.

Over a three-month period, he allegedly bet on more than a dozen of Trump's speeches, including the State of the Union address, a World Economic Forum address in Davos, and a Medal of Honor ceremony.

According to federal investigators at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and prediction market platform Kalshi, Perez used Kalshi's "Mentions" market, where users wager on whether specific words, phrases, or topics will be spoken during high-profile events.

Analysts noticed highly suspicious patterns where Perez would actively withdraw or adjust his bets mid-speech if Trump went off-script and skipped a word that Perez had wagered on.

As reported by Reuters, Robert DeNault, head of enforcement at Kalshi said, "Our surveillance team promptly flagged and referred these trades to the CFTC after an ​exchange investigation."

"We have been assisting regulators on this matter and provided evidence we collected, as we ⁠do in any referral."

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Thursday,"The president is aware of the ​teleprompter operator, and the staffer is now on unpaid leave."

Leavitt later said Perez will no longer work at the White House, while CFTC officials said the teleprompter operator is fully cooperating with the investigation so far.