Technology news and discussion on TalkFuse.
Trump teleprompter aide made $100,000 betting on what Trump would say, reports say
Reports say Gabriel Perez, a White House aide responsible for teleprompter content, made about $100,000 by trading on Kalshi contracts predicting words or phrases in President Trump’s speeches. The allegations raise concerns that people with access to non-public government information may profit from prediction markets, despite White House guidance telling staff not to use such information to trade contracts.
According to NPR and ABC sources cited by Ars Technica, Perez allegedly placed the trades over several months around the end of last year and start of this year, while having final review of many prepared presidential remarks and receiving last-minute edits. Investigators reportedly found instances where bets were adjusted during speeches when Trump skipped passages containing words Perez had backed; Kalshi, which prohibits such conduct, flagged the activity and investigated it.
In short
- A Trump aide allegedly made $100,000 from speech-related prediction-market bets.
- His role reportedly gave him access to prepared remarks and edits.
- The case renews concerns about insider trading on prediction markets.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
If the reports are accurate, trading on speech-related contracts while holding non-public information about the wording could give a government aide an unfair advantage and undermine confidence in prediction markets. Clear rules and meaningful enforcement can protect both market integrity and the public’s expectation that officials do not use privileged access for personal gain.
The case against
The allegations have not, on the information provided, been established as fact, so it is important to avoid treating suspicious trades as proof of misconduct. A fair assessment would consider what information was genuinely non-public, whether any trades relied on it, and whether the applicable rules were clear and consistently enforced; legitimate market activity should not be condemned without that evidence.
Explained simply
Prediction markets are platforms where people place bets on whether future events will occur; Kalshi is one of the largest such platforms in the United States. Gabriel Perez was a White House aide responsible for preparing the content that appears on the teleprompter for President Trump's speeches, meaning he had access to the remarks before they were publicly delivered.
When government officials with access to non-public information place bets predicting future events based on their inside knowledge, it raises serious conflict of interest concerns. This could undermine public trust if officials profit from information not available to the general public. The White House has already issued guidance telling staff not to use confidential information for trading on prediction markets.
The report claims Perez used his advance knowledge of Trump's prepared remarks to place bets on Kalshi contracts predicting specific words or phrases that would appear in speeches. Kalshi, which prohibits such conduct, reportedly detected suspicious trading patterns in Perez's account.