The man who helps put words on President Trump's teleprompter is now accused of cashing in on knowing them first. Federal commodities regulators found that Gabriel Perez, a longtime Trump teleprompter operator and technical assistant, used advance access to the president's prepared remarks to place winning bets on prediction market Kalshi, sources tell ABC News. Investigators believe Perez made more than $100,000 by wagering on whether specific words or topics would appear in at least a dozen Trump speeches, including this year's State of the Union and addresses in Davos and at a Medal of Honor ceremony.
Kalshi says its surveillance team flagged the trades and alerted its regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which has since interviewed Perez; he has reportedly acknowledged some of the bets. Perez, whose salary as "deputy assistant to the president and technical advisor" is $175,000, has worked with Trump since 2016, CNN reports. Trump praised him during a 2024 campaign event in Reno, saying, "I have a guy, Gabe. He's excellent. I've had some real bad ones, but I have Gabe." Trump is known for going off-script, and Perez would sometimes back out of bets when the president skipped over parts of his prepared remarks, according to ABC's sources.
Prosecutors in Manhattan declined to open a criminal case, but CFTC officials are said to be negotiating a settlement that would force Perez to return his profits and bar similar trades. Perez remains on the teleprompter team. "The White House has strict ethics guidelines that we expect all staffers and officials to follow," White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told ABC. "The staffer in question is fully cooperating with the CFTC." Kalshi has recently tightened its rules and now requires users to disclose their employers
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