Trump's Teleprompter Operator Removed From Role After Allegedly Winning Over $100K by Correctly Predicting Prez's Remarks
The teleprompter operator placed bets on the president's State of the Union address in February.
July 16 2026, Published 7:20 p.m. ET
Donald Trump's longtime teleprompter operator is in hot water for allegedly winning big bucks on the financial prediction market Kalshi by betting on what the president would say in his speeches, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Gabriel Perez is on unpaid leave after reportedly profiting more than $100,000, a sum discovered when his bets on Trump's use of certain phrases and words raised red flags with Kalshi's surveillance team.
Donald Trump's Teleprompter Operator Is on Unpaid Leave
Trump is seen using teleprompters while delivering the State of the Union address in February
When asked about the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's investigation into Perez after ABC News broke the story on July 16, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, "The administrative leave is unpaid. To be very clear, that was a decision by the president."
Perez is "fully cooperating with the CFTC on the matter," a source close to the situation told the New York Post.
The teleprompter operator allegedly wagered on whether Trump would utter certain buzzwords, phrases, or tackle specific hot-button topics during more than a dozen speeches, including February's State of the Union, his World Economic Forum address in Davos, Switzerland, and a primetime December 2025 speech, placing the bets on Kalshi's "Mentions" market.
Perez will not be working Trump's prime speech on Thursday, July 16, about the security of U.S. election integrity ahead of the November midterms, as Leavitt told reporters, "there will be a teleprompter operator tonight, of course, but it will not be the one, unfortunately, in that story."
Karoline Leavitt Unaware of Any Other Staffers Making Kalshi Bets
Karoline Leavitt confirmed Trump's teleprompter operator was placed on unpaid leave.
"Our surveillance team promptly flagged and referred these trades to the CFTC, and we are cooperating and assisting regulators," Bobby DeNault, Kalshi's head of enforcement, told ABC News about Perez's bets.
Leavitt said she was unaware of any other White House staffers making such a bold transgression with the prediction market.
"The White House has strict ethics guidelines that we expect all staffers and officials to follow," White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told the network.
Donald Trump Thinks Teleprompter Operator's Bets Is a 'Disgrace'
The president is seen using teleprompters on the campaign trail in 2024, but frequently speaks off the cuff.
Perez has worked for Trump as a technical aide since 2016, allowing him rare access to the president's speeches before they are delivered.
Leavitt said the tycoon was upset by his longtime employee's bad judgment, calling the situation "deeply unfortunate and, frankly, a disgrace."
Trump had glowing words for Perez during a 2024 campaign stop in Reno, Nevada, telling supporters, "I have a guy, Gabe. He’s excellent. I’ve had some real bad ones, but I have Gabe."
White House Warnings About Prediction Market Use
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An internal White House memo went out in March warning staffers against using confidential information to make prediction market bets.
The White House sounded the alarm in a March internal memo, warning staffers not to exploit confidential information to place bets on prediction markets, including Kalshi and Polymarket.
By then, Kalshi had identified Perez's trades, but it's unclear if White House officials knew about the investigation.
Perez may avoid criminal prosecution, but he's not in the clear. Sources say the CFTC wants him to give up his profits and stay out of prediction-market trading as its civil case presses on, despite Manhattan prosecutors declining to file charges, ABC News reported.
Founded in 2018 and launched publicly in 2021, Kalshi is a federally regulated prediction market that lets users put real money behind yes-or-no bets on everything from Trump speeches and elections to sports, weather, and the economy, turning major headlines and current events into high-stakes wagers
