The White House has placed one of President Donald Trump’s longtime teleprompter operators on unpaid administrative leave following allegations that he used advance knowledge of presidential speeches to place profitable bets on a prediction market platform.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the decision during a briefing on Thursday, saying the employee would no longer remain at the White House and had been placed on unpaid administrative leave pending his departure.
According to reports, the employee has been identified as Gabriel Perez, who has reportedly worked as Trump’s teleprompter operator since 2016.
The allegations involve claims that Perez used confidential knowledge of the contents of Trump’s speeches to place wagers on Kalshi over whether the president would use specific words, phrases or discuss particular topics during public appearances.
The reported bets covered more than a dozen speeches, including Trump’s February State of the Union address and remarks at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Leavitt described the allegations as “deeply unfortunate” and “a disgrace,” adding that President Trump had been informed.
Kalshi also confirmed it detected suspicious trading activity linked to Trump’s speeches and referred the matter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The company said it cooperated fully with regulators by providing evidence gathered during its internal review.
The CFTC has not announced any enforcement action, and no formal charges have been filed against Perez.
