A White House teleprompter operator, Gabriel Perez, is under investigation for allegedly using his access to speech content to place bets worth nearly $100,000 on words President Donald Trump would use in major addresses, including the State of the Union. The wagers were made on Kalshi, a prediction markets platform, whose analysts flagged unusual activity on "mention markets" – contracts betting on whether a speaker will use particular terms – and traced the account to a federal employee working on White House teleprompters. The case raises questions about insider access being exploited for financial gain on a platform where political speeches can move markets worth billions.

Kalshi froze more than $90,000 in Perez's account before it could be withdrawn and passed evidence to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates the platform. Perez, who had worked at the White House since 2016, is reported to have been "fully cooperative" with investigators, and federal prosecutors in Manhattan have declined to open a criminal case. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump was aware of the situation, that Perez had been placed on unpaid leave, and that he would no longer work at the White House; the CFTC declined to confirm or deny any probe when approached by the BBC.