A former teleprompter operator for the White House has agreed to pay $172,000 to settle allegations that he improperly traded on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) "mention markets." Gabriel Perez, who operated President Donald Trump's teleprompter from 2016, will return over $107,500 in profits and pay a $65,000 penalty, according to a CFTC press release.
The CFTC order also imposes a three-year trading ban on Perez. Regulators claimed that between December 2025 and February 2026, Perez traded contracts reflecting words or phrases the President might use in speeches. The order found that Perez, in his role, had access to presidential speeches before they were delivered and used this information to trade on the prediction market, breaching his duty of trust and confidence.
Perez's settlement represents a significant discount due to his cooperation with the CFTC. Previously, ABC News reported that Perez was accused of making tens of thousands of dollars by betting on more than a dozen of Trump's speeches and was in discussions to settle with federal regulators.
Following the initial report, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that Perez had been placed on unpaid administrative leave. The White House also issued an internal memo in March warning staff against using nonpublic information to place bets on prediction markets.
CFTC investigators reportedly found that Perez placed bets on more than a dozen speeches over a three-month period, including the State of the Union address, a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and remarks during a Medal of Honor ceremony. Perez reportedly acknowledged some of the trades during an interview with regulators. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan were notified of the investigation but declined to open a criminal inquiry.
Kalshi, the prediction market platform where the trades occurred, has a policy against users trading based on information obtained through their employment. The company updated its policies in June to require users to disclose their place of employment.