White House Teleprompter Operator Accused of Making $100,000 on Trump Speech Bets

A White House teleprompter operator is being investigated over allegations he used inside information to place bets on President Donald Trump’s speeches and make nearly $100,000, according to BBC. Gabriel Perez, who had worked at the White House since 2016, is accused of betting on words Trump would use during major public addresses, including the State of the Union speech. The trades were made on Kalshi, a prediction markets platform that lets users bet on real-world events. Kalshi said it reported the activity to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and froze Mr Perez’s account before any profits could be withdrawn. The company said it noticed unusual betting on “mention markets” in March and identified the user as a federal employee operating White House teleprompters. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Mr Perez was on unpaid leave and would no longer work at the White House.