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Gabriel Perez to pay $172K for insider trading on Trump speech bets
Gabriel Perez, a former White House teleprompter operator, has reached a settlement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regarding insider trading on prediction markets. Between December 2025 and February 2026, Perez used his privileged access to President Donald Trump’s prepared remarks to place bets on the Kalshi prediction platform.
Perez specifically targeted “mention markets,” wagering on whether certain words, phrases, or topics would be included in presidential speeches. The CFTC found that Perez misappropriated non-public information, breaching his duty of trust and confidence to the U.S. government.
As part of the settlement, Perez is ordered to surrender $107,539.02 in trading profits and pay a $65,000 civil penalty. He is also subject to a three-year ban from trading. The CFTC noted that the civil penalty was reduced from its standard amount due to Perez’s “exemplary cooperation” during the investigation. The case marks the first known instance of a White House employee being involved in an insider trading scheme involving prediction markets.
Entities
Commodity Futures Trading Commission · Donald Trump · Gabriel Perez · Kalshi · White House · White House
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how many sources carry each claim.
- [● 14 SOURCES] The civil penalty was reduced due to Perez's exemplary cooperation with the investigation. ruse.news · www.europesays.com · offthepress.com · theeyeofmedia.com · www.bbc.co.uk · +8 more
- [● 14 SOURCES] Perez is subject to a three-year ban from trading. ruse.news · www.europesays.com · offthepress.com · theeyeofmedia.com · www.bbc.co.uk · +8 more
- [● 11 SOURCES] Perez conducted trades on the Kalshi platform between December 2025 and February 2026. ruse.news · offthepress.com · theeyeofmedia.com · www.bbc.co.uk · internewscast.com · +5 more
- [● 14 SOURCES] Gabriel Perez misappropriated non-public information regarding presidential speeches in breach of his duty of trust. ruse.news · www.europesays.com · offthepress.com · theeyeofmedia.com · www.bbc.co.uk · +8 more
- [● 5 SOURCES] Kalshi detected prohibited trading activity and reported it to the CFTC. www.europesays.com · theeyeofmedia.com · www.bbc.co.uk · keyt.com · krdo.com
- [● 14 SOURCES] Gabriel Perez must surrender $107,539.02 in profits and pay a $65,000 civil penalty. ruse.news · www.europesays.com · offthepress.com · theeyeofmedia.com · www.bbc.co.uk · +8 more