Suspension in the White House
Donald Trump’s administration temporarily separated an employee in charge of the presidential teleprompter. Gabriel Pérez, who has operated the device since 2016, was placed on unpaid leave after it was revealed that he had used inside information to place bets.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt described the incident as “regrettable” and assured that strict internal ethical standards are applied.
Betting on presidential speeches
According to ABC News, Pérez would have obtained more than 100 thousand dollars by betting on the Kalshi platform on the words and phrases that the president would use in his official speeches, including the State of the Union message. The employee took advantage of his early access to the content of the presidential texts.
Kalshi confirmed that he detected unusual movements in his “Mentions” prediction market, where users bet on specific terms uttered at public events. Robert Denault, the firm’s chief compliance officer, said the suspicious transactions were investigated and referred to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The platform will collaborate with the authorities by providing the information collected.




