White House condemns staffer accused of betting on Trump speech as a 'disgrace'

The White House on Thursday condemned as "a disgrace" a Trump administration teleprompter operator accused of betting on President Donald Trump's speeches, saying he has been placed on paid administrative leave amid a federal investigation.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Donald Trump had been briefed on the matter and condemned the staffer's alleged conduct during Thursday's White House press briefing.

"Obviously, I'm aware of the report. The president is, too. I spoke with him about it," Leavitt said. "He believes it's deeply unfortunate and, frankly, a disgrace."

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Leavitt said the employee has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the investigation and confirmed a different teleprompter operator would handle Trump's speech Thursday evening.

ABC News first reported that federal investigators with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission found a White House staffer — identified by sources as Gabriel Perez, Trump's teleprompter operator since 2016 — allegedly made tens of thousands of dollars by betting on the contents of Trump's speeches through the prediction market Kalshi.

"The White House has strict ethics guidelines that we expect all staffers and officials to follow," White House spokesman Davis Ingle told Fox News when asked about the report. "The staffer in question is fully cooperating with the CFTC."

A CFTC spokesperson told Fox News the agency "can't confirm or deny an investigation."

The case began after Kalshi's surveillance systems flagged a series of unusual trades in March involving markets tied to words and phrases expected to appear in Trump's public remarks.

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Kalshi said the trades stood out because they did not follow typical trading patterns and also drew complaints from market makers through the platform's whistleblower channels. After reviewing account information, the company said it identified the trader as a federal employee who worked as a White House teleprompter operator.

Kalshi said it froze the account before the trader could withdraw most of the alleged profits, leaving more than $90,000 on the platform while the matter was referred to federal regulators.

"Our surveillance team promptly flagged and referred these trades to the CFTC after an exchange investigation," Robert DeNault, Kalshi's head of enforcement, told Fox News. "We have been assisting regulators on this matter and provided evidence we collected, as we do in any referral."

Kalshi said the markets involved common words and topics expected to appear in presidential speeches — including country names, economic terms, campaign language and social issues — rather than classified or otherwise sensitive information. The company added it has worked with the CFTC for months as the investigation has continued.