Teleprompter operator on unpaid leave in betting probe

A longtime White House teleprompter operator for President Donald Trump has been placed on unpaid administrative leave and is under federal investigation for allegedly using insider knowledge to profit from bets on the content of the president's speeches. The White House confirmed the action on Thursday, July 16, 2026, after reports detailed that the employee, Gabriel Perez, earned more than $100,000 wagering on the prediction market platform Kalshi.

Perez, a technical assistant who has operated Trump's teleprompter since 2016, is accused of placing bets on Kalshi's "Mentions" market, which allows users to wager on whether specific words, phrases, or topics will be uttered during a public speech. According to sources familiar with the investigation, Perez placed wagers on more than a dozen presidential addresses over a three-month period, including the State of the Union in February, a primetime speech in December, remarks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January, and a Medal of Honor ceremony in March.

The suspicious activity was first detected by Kalshi's internal surveillance team, which flagged the trades and referred the matter to the Commodity Futures...