Gabriel Perez, the man responsible for scrolling Donald Trump’s words across a screen, apparently decided those words were worth more than his government salary. Federal regulators are now investigating whether Trump’s longtime teleprompter operator used advance knowledge of presidential speeches to pocket between $90,000 and $100,000 on Kalshi, the CFTC-regulated prediction market platform.
The case represents the first publicly reported instance of a White House staffer facing insider trading allegations tied to prediction markets.
How a teleprompter operator gamed mention markets
Kalshi operates what it calls “mention markets,” which let traders bet on whether specific words or phrases will appear in a given speech. Perez, who has served as Trump’s teleprompter operator since 2016, would have had access to prepared remarks before they were delivered publicly.
The suspicious trading activity reportedly spanned roughly three months, from late 2025 to mid-2026, and was tied to several high-profile events. These included the State of the Union address and Trump’s January speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
