Gabriel Perez, a technical assistant who operates Trump’s teleprompter, is reportedly in settlement talks with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission over allegations he placed winning bets on Kalshi’s “Mentions” markets, ABC News reported. Those markets let users bet on whether a speaker will say specific words or phrases during a public address.
CFTC investigators found Perez placed bets on more than a dozen Trump speeches over roughly three months, ABC News reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. The speeches included the February State of the Union address, a December primetime address, a January speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, and March remarks at a Medal of Honor ceremony.
Kalshi Flagged the Pattern
No criminal charges have been filed. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan declined to open a criminal case after the CFTC referred the matter, according to the sources cited by ABC News. Kalshi‘s surveillance team caught the pattern first.
“Our surveillance team promptly flagged and referred these trades to the CFTC, and we are cooperating and assisting regulators,” Kalshi lead lawyer Bobby DeNault said in a statement to ABC News.
Investigators reportedly found that Perez sometimes backed out of a bet mid-speech when Trump skipped a word he had wagered on, according to the sources. Trump often departs from his prepared remarks. “I go off teleprompter about 80% of the time,” he told the Detroit Economic Club in January, one of the speeches investigators believe Perez bet on.
ABC Sources Claim Trump’s Teleprompter Acknowledged Some of the Trades
Perez sat for an interview with regulators and acknowledged some of the trades, the sources told ABC News. The CFTC has discussed settlement terms that would require Perez to give back his profits and stop making similar trades.
A White House spokesperson disclosed that Perez is fully cooperating with the CFTC and that staff are expected to follow strict ethics guidelines. Perez remains in his role teleprompting for the U.S. President.
The case follows a March internal White House memo warning staff against using nonpublic information to bet on prediction markets, ABC News previously reported. Kalshi bans employees and outside parties from trading on information tied to their jobs. The company updated its policy last month to require users to disclose their employers.
The Perez case adds to a short list of insider trading actions tied to prediction markets. The Department of Justice has brought two prior cases this year, one against a special forces soldier who allegedly bet on the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and another against a Google employee accused of betting on user search data. Both defendants pleaded not guilty.
Trump has offered mixed views on prediction markets but said in April he supports platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket operating in the United States, so the country isn’t “left out in the cold.”
