Former Trump Teleprompter Operator Fined $172K for Insider Trading
Gabriel Perez, a former White House teleprompter operator, was ordered to pay a $172,000 penalty for using insider information from Donald Trump's speeches to profit on prediction markets. He admitted to placing bets on specific words and topics Trump would mention, earning over $107,000.
Consensus
- Gabriel Perez was a former White House employee who operated the teleprompter for Donald Trump.
- Perez used insider information from Trump's speeches to place bets on the prediction platform Kalshi.
- Perez earned over $107,000 from these bets.
- The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) imposed a $172,000 fine on Perez.
- The fine includes $65,000 in penalties and $107,539 in restitution of profits.
- Perez was removed from his position and placed on unpaid leave.
- Perez was banned from trading on regulated U.S. markets, including prediction platforms, for three years.
- Perez cooperated with the investigation, which led to a discount on the fine.
- The incident came to light in mid-July.
Points of divergence
- Perez changed his bets after seeing revisions to Trump's speech, which CFTC was able to prove. — thebell
- The platform Kalshi noticed suspicious activity and reported it to the CFTC. — thebell
- The U.S. government has been actively combating insider trading by officials on prediction markets, citing prior cases involving a special forces operative and a military officer. — thebell
- The U.S. State Department issued a warning to diplomatic corps about using confidential information from Iran negotiations for betting. — thebell
- A KPMG employee is under investigation for potentially using pre-publication financial data for trading. — thebell
- The CFTC's decision was based on Perez's 'exemplary cooperation' with the investigation. — kommersant
- Perez made bets on the content of Trump's speeches from December 2025 to February 2026. — kommersant
- Perez made bets on more than a dozen of Trump's speeches over a three-month period. — tg_theinsider
- Perez had access to all prepared speech texts since 2016. — tg_theinsider
Coverage (3 sources)
- Trump's teleprompter operator to pay nearly $173,000 for insider trading — The Bell
- Trump's teleprompter operator fined $172,000 for insider trading — Коммерсантъ
- Former Trump teleprompter operator ordered to pay fine for bets on words mentioned in president's speeches — The Insider
Key entities
- Donald Trump
- Gabriel Perez
- White House
- USA
- AP
- Operator
- Kalshi
- Commodity Futures Trading Commission
- USA (CFTC)
- Commodity Futures Trading Commission