ATLANTA (AP) 鈥� President Donald Trump鈥檚 teleprompter operator is on unpaid leave after reports that he used his inside knowledge to make bets about the president鈥檚 speeches on the online prediction market Kalshi, the White House said Thursday.
The firm鈥檚 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 鈥渦nfortunate鈥� and 鈥渁 disgrace.鈥�
鈥淭he White House has extremely strict ethical guidelines with respect to issues like this,鈥� Leavitt told reporters, saying the aide is on unpaid leave.
ABC 小萝莉影视 reported Thursday that Gabriel Perez, who has been operating Trump鈥檚 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鈥檚 lawyer and head of enforcement, said on X that the 鈥淜alshi surveillance team promptly flagged, investigated and referred these trades鈥� to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission that has regulatory authority over such matters.
His statement did not name Perez.
鈥淲e have been assisting regulators on this matter and provided all evidence that we collected, as we do with any referral,鈥� Denault added.
ABC based its report on multiple sources who have knowledge of the matter but spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the details.
The ABC report described suspicious activity on Kalshi’s 鈥淢entions鈥� market, in which users can place bets on what phrases and specific words might be used in public speeches. Kalshi recently began requiring users to , and the platform’s policy prohibits betting based on information that users gain because of their job.
Attention on members of the administration has reached all the way to Trump himself.
On Thursday, his media company announced it would to Truth Social posts, including possibly his own affecting national security and financial markets.
In his most recent financial disclosures, Trump from his crypto businesses in 2025, raking in profits while his investors suffered losses in marketplaces that Trump has sought to shield from tighter federal regulation.
Trump got more than $500 million from his World Liberty Financial business selling new crypto products, including 鈥済overnance tokens,鈥� according to the required annual disclosure report with the Office of Government Ethics. It also showed another crypto business, CIC Digital LLC, took in more than $600 million from sales of souvenir-type 鈥渕eme鈥� coins stamped with his face. Both the tokens and the coins have plunged in value since the sales.
The president has also profited from merchandising deals and high-dollar political and official events at his properties, significantly increasing his net worth since returning to power.
Trump’s aides have stood by his personal and family business practices.
鈥淭he president is abiding by all conflict-of-interest laws that are applicable to the president,鈥� Leavitt said earlier this year. It’s “absurd for anyone to insinuate that this president is profiting off of the presidency.鈥�
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