Ex-White House teleprompter operator to pay $172,000 for Trump speech bets

Meanwhile, a former White House teleprompter operator has been ordered to pay more than $172, 000 (£127, 000) for using inside information to bet on US President Donald Trump's speeches.

Key points

• The White House has not yet commented.
• It remarked his civil penalty had been reduced due to his "exemplary co-operation" with the investigation.
• It remarked it had employed account data to find that the user was a federal employee operating White House teleprompters, and had documented the activity to the regulator.

Gabriel Perez was discovered to have produced trades on what the president would say during addresses between December 2025 and February 2026 on Kalshi – a prediction markets platform where users can bet on real-world events.

Its regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), remarked Perez would have to surrender profits of $107, 539.02 (£79, 452) and pay a civil penalty of $65, 000 (£48, 000).

For context, the White House has not yet commented. In July, then-press secretary Karoline Leavitt remarked Perez was on unpaid leave and would not return to his post.

Announcing the settlement on Friday, the CFTC remarked Perez had "misappropriated" his prior knowledge of Trump's speeches to place bets "in breach of his duty of trust and confidence".

It remarked his civil penalty had been reduced due to his "exemplary co-operation" with the investigation. Perez has additionally been banned from trading for three years.

Writing on X, Kalshi's lead lawyer Bobby DeNault welcomed the decision: "It doesn't matter who you are: violate our rules or federal law and you will face the consequences."

In practice, the firm previously informed the BBC its analysts had noticed unusual betting on "mention markets" – contracts where users predict whether a speaker will employ common terms, such as specific countries, campaign slogans or words – in March.

"The words of political leaders like Presidents and Fed chairs cause billions of dollars of movement in FX markets, oil futures, the stock market, " it remarked in an official note in July.

Meanwhile, the same month, the White House Management Office had sent a letter to aides telling them not to place bets on prediction markets, administration authorities informed the BBC's US media partner CBS News.

In short, ex-White House teleprompter operator to pay $172, 000 for Trump speech bets is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.