Gabriel Perez, the teleprompter operator for US President Donald Trump, is no longer working in the US federal government, a White House official confirmed on Tuesday. Perez was placed on unpaid leave earlier this month after reports that he used inside knowledge to win more than $100,000 betting on Trump's public speeches.
More than half of Perez's $175,000 salary, according to White House personnel records.
The White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity and not authorized to comment publicly, declined to say whether Perez resigned or was fired. Perez had operated Trump's teleprompter since 2016.
Deeply unfortunate and, frankly, a disgrace
The ABC News report detailed suspicious activity on Kalshi's "Mentions" market, where users bet on phrases in public speeches. Kalshi's lawyer Robert Denault said on X that the platform's surveillance team "promptly flagged, investigated and referred these trades" to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, but did not name Perez.
Kalshi has since required users to disclose their place of employment and prohibits betting based on job-related information. The platform's trading volume has surged from $100 million last year to $3 billion today, according to a CNBC estimate. Kalshi also announced it would allow betting on drug trial results.
Prediction market controversies
The case adds to a pattern of insider betting on prediction markets. In April, federal prosecutors indicted US soldier Gannon Ken Van Dyke for allegedly betting on whether former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro would be deposed; he earned $400,000. Kalshi also fined three political candidates who placed bets on their own races, including Mark Moran, who bet on whether he would run for office before announcing his US Senate bid in Virginia.
Minnesota became the first US state to ban prediction markets entirely in May, but a federal judge temporarily blocked the law. President Trump has defended the industry, saying states should avoid regulating prediction markets and leave oversight to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.