The man who operated President Donald Trump’s teleprompter for more than a decade has been placed on unpaid administrative leave after being accused of winning more than $100,000 from betting on the content of the president’s speeches.
Gabriel “Gabe” Perez, a technical assistant to the president, is in talks with federal regulators to settle allegations that he used his inside knowledge to place bets and win on Kalshi, ABC News reported first.
Sources told ABC News that Kalshi alerted the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, an independent agency that regulates futures, swaps and bets, to suspicious activity on its “Mentions” market – where users can bet on specific words, phrases or topics used during speeches.
Perez operated Trump’s teleprompter during the State of the Union and placed bets on more than a dozen speeches over a three-month time span, ABC News reported.
The Independent has asked Kalshi for comment.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Thursday that Perez was put on unpaid administrative leave and is currently complying with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Leavitt said the president found the situation “Deeply unfortunate and frankly a disgrace.”
Trump will have a different teleprompter operator for his big speech on election integrity Thursday evening, Leavitt said.
Among the alleged bets Perez placed on Trump speeches were the president’s December primetime address, a January speech at the World Economic Forum and remarks in March during a Medal of Honor ceremony, ABC reports.
In some instances, Perez would back out of bets in the middle of Trump’s speeches when the president would skip over a portion, the broadcaster added.
Sources familiar with the investigation told ABC News that Perez sat for an interview with regulators in recent months and acknowledged some of the trades. Regulators have expressed a willingness to settle with Perez. The terms of the settlement would require Perez to give back his profits and refrain from making similar trades, the report adds.
Perez was hired as a teleprompter operator by Trump’s team in 2016 when the president was running for office for the first time.
Members of the Trump campaign reportedly Googled “teleprompters” and found Perez through VIP Prompting, according to the book “Let Trump Be Trump” by former Trump campaign managers Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie.
Lewandowski and Bossie both recounted that Perez “made the device user friendly for the boss” and “became a whiz at breaking down and setting up the teleprompter,” Politico reported in 2020.
Perez continued working with the Trump team through the president’s first term and returned to the White House in Trump’s second term. His salary was $175,000 per year, according to the White House’s 2025 annual report to Congress.
Prediction markets have become an increasingly popular way for people to place bets on everything from what a celebrity will wear on a red carpet to who will win an election. But the lack of regulations around the bets, known as “contracts,” has worried lawmakers who fear it will become a breeding ground for insider trading.
Members of the House recently advanced legislation that would ban lawmakers and their families from election- and government-related bets.
The Senate has already passed a rule banning lawmakers and their staff from placing bets on prediction markets.
Earlier this year, the White House sent a memo to staff warning them against using their insider knowledge of policies, specifically related to Iran, to place bets in future markets, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Popular prediction market sites, such as Kalshi and Polymarket, are inaccessible to reporters on the White House’s WiFi, NOTUS reported in January. However, it’s unclear if White House staff can access the sites.
When asked whether the staff could access it, Leavitt said she was unsure but would check later.
