White House "official" teleprompter operator made over $100,000 by predicting market moves using insider information

Original｜Odaily (@OdailyChina)

Author｜Golem (@web3_golem)

Recently, the White House was exposed in another insider trading scandal.

A White House staffer profited hundreds of thousands of dollars from prediction markets using inside information. The insider's true identity was merely a long-time operator of Trump's teleprompter, who has since been suspended without pay.

This teleprompter operator became the third individual, after a special forces soldier involved in the Maduro capture operation and a Google security engineer, to be disclosed by the US Department of Justice for making significant profits in prediction markets using insider information. (Related reading: Over 4 Months, Polymarket Helped Trump Catch a Military Operation Leaker, But at What Cost…) (Related reading: Seeing the Answers Before Taking the Test? Google Engineer Caught in Polymarket Insider Trading Case)

Reported by Kalshi, Funds Frozen, But No Criminal Charges Finally

The main figure is Gabriel Perez, who has been operating Trump's teleprompter since 2016. Perez's journey to this job was quite dramatic. In 2016, Trump's campaign team urgently needed a teleprompter operator. They searched for "teleprompter" on Google, found Perez's company, and he was hired by Trump's team.

Gabriel Perez

Although Perez was hired by chance, over these ten years, he gradually became one of Trump's closest aides. US publication Politico even called Perez "the only person Trump trusts." He often receives last-minute edits from Trump himself to public speeches.

Thus, Perez became one of the few people who could obtain Trump's complete speech drafts in advance and had the final say on almost all of Trump's prepared remarks. This role is not insignificant. Perez's official title in the White House is Deputy Assistant to the President and Technical Advisor, with an annual salary of $175,000 – only $20,000 less than senior staff like Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

Such a salary is already high-income in the US, but the greedy Perez was not satisfied.

As prediction markets became popular, countless players started betting on whether Trump would "mention" specific words in a given speech. Perez realized his "privilege" could bring him even more wealth.

CFTC investigators found that over about three months, Perez placed bets on over a dozen of Trump's speeches, netting a total profit of over $100,000. These included Trump's primetime speech in December last year, his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January this year, the State of the Union address in February, and his speech at the Medal of Honor ceremony in March.

The official annual salary of the US President is $400,000. Including various allowances, the President receives about $569,000 annually. If Perez hadn't been caught, earning $100,000 in three months, his annual income would surpass the President's salary, despite having less power.

However, even knowing the speech content in advance, Perez couldn't always predict which words Trump would mention, as Trump often "improvises" and deviates from the script. When Trump skipped a word Perez had bet on during a speech, he would immediately sell to cut losses. During a speech at the Detroit Economic Club in January, Trump himself admitted that 80% of the time he doesn't look at the teleprompter.

Like the special forces soldier and the Google security engineer, Perez's exposure also stemmed from a proactive report by the prediction market platform. Perez frequently used Kalshi for insider trading. Starting in March this year, Kalshi's monitoring system detected unusual transactions related to specific words mentioned in Trump's speeches and flagged Perez.

After an internal investigation, Kalshi quickly froze over $90,000 in Perez's account and referred the case to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Learning of this, Trump commented it was "disgraceful" and personally decided to suspend Perez without pay.

Due to his greed, Perez ended up losing everything. He couldn't reclaim his profits from the prediction markets and lost his job. However, compared to the special forces soldier and the Google security engineer, Perez was lucky, as US judicial authorities did not file criminal charges, and he avoided prison.

During the investigation, the CFTC informed federal prosecutors in Manhattan, but they declined to pursue a criminal investigation. According to sources, CFTC regulators have indicated a willingness to settle with Perez and have discussed terms, requiring him to return the profits and cease similar trading activities.

Perez is Just the Beginning of Cleaning Up Insiders in the "Mention" Market

The reason Perez avoided prison is that prosecutors didn't consider his actions a criminal offense. He didn't leak important government information in advance or endanger national security. As Trump put it, "it's just disgraceful," undermining the clean image of government officials.

In March this year, the White House warned staff not to use non-public information to place bets in prediction markets. White House spokesperson Davis Ingle stated, "The White House has strict ethical guidelines, and we expect all staff and officials to adhere to them."

But Perez is certainly not the only White House staffer profiting from insider information. Trump, who openly operates a paid private group, is hardly in a position to criticize this teleprompter operator. (Related reading: $100,000 a Month, Trump Starts Selling 'Alpha')

It's no wonder Perez couldn't resist the temptation. The "mention" market in prediction markets is indeed the easiest category to manipulate. When the cost for insiders to participate is extremely low, and the potential return is extremely high, it ceases to be a moral issue and becomes a mechanism design issue. In the face of profit, outwardly respectable and principled politicians cannot guarantee they won't cross that line.

The "mention" market allows users to bet on specific words, phrases, or topics mentioned in public speeches. Compared to other events (like political elections or sports), the cost of cheating in the "mention" market is extremely low. It's not limited to people like Perez, who know the speech content in advance. For the speaker themselves, cheating is as simple as saying a word, literally making "a single word worth a thousand gold pieces."

At the Grammy Awards in February this year, after host Trevor Noah said "Welcome back to the Grammys," he suddenly shouted "Potato." While everyone was confused, Trevor Noah continued, "If you bet on me saying this word on Polymarket, you'd be rich," and congratulated a user "Noah_22." However, the "What will be mentioned at the Grammys" market on Polymarket didn't even have a "potato" option, and the user "noah-22" was purely fictional.

Grammy host shouts 'potato' during the ceremony

Some later analyses considered this a Polymarket marketing stunt, but it demonstrated the host's ability to manipulate the "mention" market.

An even more direct example occurred in October 2025 during Coinbase's Q3 earnings call. As the call neared its end, CEO Brian Armstrong noted that many people were betting on what he would mention during the call. He then opened Polymarket and read out every single word from the available options, ultimately resulting in all outcomes having a 100% win rate, ending in a tie.

These are just two examples demonstrating the control speakers have over the "mention" market. Undoubtedly, many others are profiting from it below the surface. However, as regulation of prediction markets deepens, insiders in the "mention" market may soon be completely purged. Perez is just the beginning.

Last month, Kalshi updated its policy to require users to disclose their employers. Kalshi's Head of Enforcement, Bobby DeNault, explained the reason: "If you possess certain information due to your job or employment relationship, and you have a legal obligation related to it, you are duty-bound not to appropriate it for yourself or use it for personal gain." Polymarket has not yet implemented such strict disclosure requirements for its users, but with increasing competition for compliance in the prediction market track, stricter compliance from Polymarket seems imminent.

From special forces soldiers and Google engineers to White House teleprompter operators, prediction markets are gradually cleansing themselves of insider trading. At the same time, the market is undergoing a process of disenchantment. Once thought to reflect collective wisdom, it increasingly appears to be an ATM for a few insiders.

While purging insider trading makes prediction markets more compliant, it also distances them from the truth and brings them closer to being pure casinos.