Kalshi has issued its first-ever lifetime trading ban against former US congressman George Santos, after finding he tried to manipulate prediction markets tied to whether he would attend President Trump's February 2026 State of the Union address. Santos placed trades on the outcome and then posted misleading statements on social media, including one claiming he would be in the gallery, before later admitting from an airport that he was watching the address on television. The ban matters as part of a broader crackdown by prediction markets on politicians misusing insider knowledge or public statements to sway contract prices.

Kalshi's enforcement team froze Santos's account and referred the case to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which he settled with for $35,000 this summer, comprising over $17,500 in returned profits and an equal fine. Unlike four other politicians penalised in the same round of enforcement action, including North Carolina's Laurie Buckhout, California's Stephen Cloobeck and Maine's Ben Midgley, who received temporary suspensions after settling, Santos refused to cooperate and now faces a permanent ban, with Kalshi warning of possible legal action if he does not pay. Santos, previously expelled from Congress and imprisoned before a Trump-commuted release in 2025, mocked the ban on social media.