The teleprompter operator for President Donald Trump has been placed on unpaid leave. This comes amid reports that he used his knowledge of the president’s speeches to place bets on the Kalshi prediction market, according to a statement from the White House on Thursday.
Kalshi’s chief compliance officer revealed that they contacted federal regulators about bets allegedly made regarding what the president would say in public speeches. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that the president is aware of the situation, which she called ‘regrettable’ and ‘an embarrassment.’
‘The White House has extremely strict ethical guidelines on matters like this,’ Leavitt stated to reporters, adding that the assistant is on unpaid leave.
ABC News reported Thursday that Gabriel Perez, who has operated Trump’s teleprompter since 2016, used his insider knowledge to earn over $100,000 by betting on what the president would say in significant speeches. This included the State of the Union address earlier this year.
Robert Denault, Kalshi’s attorney and chief compliance officer, posted on X that Kalshi’s ‘surveillance team detected, investigated, and immediately referred these operations’ to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates these matters. His statement did not mention Perez.
‘We have been assisting regulators in this matter and provided all the evidence we gathered, as we do with any referral,’ Denault added.
ABC based its report on multiple sources with knowledge of the situation, who spoke anonymously to discuss the details. The report described suspicious activity in Kalshi’s ‘Mentions’ market, where users can bet on specific phrases and words used in public speeches. Kalshi recently required users to disclose their employment, and the platform’s policy prohibits betting based on information obtained through work.
Recently, reports have emerged of administration members, including Trump, profiting financially from the presidency. In his latest financial disclosures, Trump reported earning $1.2 billion from his cryptocurrency ventures in 2025, accumulating profits while his investors faced losses in markets he has sought to protect from federal regulations.
Trump gained over $500 million from his World Liberty Financial company by selling new cryptocurrency products, including ‘governance tokens,’ according to his mandatory annual disclosure to the Office of Government Ethics. It also showed that another cryptocurrency business, CIC Digital LLC, received more than $600 million from selling novelty ‘meme’ coins featuring his likeness. Both the tokens and coins have declined in value since the sales.
The president has also benefited from merchandise contracts and political events held at his properties, significantly increasing his net worth since returning to power. Trump’s advisors have defended his personal and family business practices.
‘The president is complying with all applicable conflict of interest laws,’ Leavitt stated earlier this year. It is ‘absurd for anyone to imply that this president is profiting from the presidency.’