President Donald Trump’s teleprompter operator is on unpaid leave after reports that he used his inside knowledge to make bets about the president’s speeches on the online prediction market Kalshi, the White House said Thursday.
Alleged Bets on Trump Speeches
The firm’s enforcement chief said Kalshi contacted federal regulators about bets allegedly made about what the president would say in public addresses. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president is aware of the situation, which she described as ‘unfortunate’ and ‘a disgrace.’ The White House has extremely strict ethical guidelines with respect to issues like this, Leavitt told reporters, saying the aide is on unpaid leave.
ABC News reported Thursday that Gabriel Perez, who has been operating Trump’s teleprompter since 2016, used his inside knowledge to win more than $100,000 betting on what the president would say in big speeches, including the State of the Union address earlier this year. Robert Denault, Kalshi’s lawyer and head of enforcement, said on X that the ‘Kalshi surveillance team promptly flagged, investigated and referred these trades’ to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission that has regulatory authority over such matters.
Original reporting: KTSA News/Talk (San Antonio) — read the source article.
