The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has ordered Gabriel Perez, a former White House teleprompter operator, to pay over $172,000 for illegal trading. Perez allegedly used advance knowledge of President Trump's speeches to profit on the Kalshi prediction market.

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The $172,539 price for a teleprompter operator's advantage

Gabriel Perez , a former White House teleprompter operator, has been ordered by the U .S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to pay $172,539. This penalty follows an investigation into his use of nonpublic information to profit from President Trump's upcoming remarks.. According to the CFTC, Perez leveraged his role to gain an unfair advantage in the financial markets. the professional consequences for Perez were immediate; as the report notes, he was placed on unpaid leave and subsequently removed from his position within the federal government.

Exploiting Kalshi's "mention market" contracts

The illegal activity centered on the Kalshi prediction market, where Perez traded specific "mention market" contracts. These financial instruments allow users to bet on whether certain words, phrases, or topics will be mentioned by a public official during a scheduled address . Because Perez managed the teleprompter, he possessed the final versionns of President Trump's speeches well before they were delivered to the public. Between December 2025 and February 2026, he used this information to place trades with near-certainty, a direct violation of the Commodity Exchange Act. This case highlights a growing, volatile intersection between government operations and event-based trading, where a single phrase can trigger massive financial payouts.

A reduced penalty due to Perez's cooperation

The financial settlement requires Perez to disgorge $107,539.02 in illegal profits and pay an additional $65,000 civil penalty. Beyond the monetary costs, the CFTC has imposed a three-year ban on his ability to participate in any trading activities and issued a cease-and-desist order. Interestingly, the report says the civil penalty was significantly reduced because Perez provided "exemplary cooperation" during the agency's investigation . This suggests his assistance may have helped the agency uncover the specific mechanics of these trades or identify other potential vulnerabilities in the market.

Who else had access to the President's final drafts?

While the CFTC has taken decisive action, several critical questions regarding the security of presidential communications remain unaddressed. It is currently unclear how many other staff members or contractors had access to these sensitive speech drafts during the period between December 2025 and February 2026. Additionally, the source does not clarify if Kalshi's internal monitoring systems flagged these suspicious "mention market" trades before the CFTC intervened. Finally, regulators have yet to confirm if other government employees are utilizing similar niche prediction markets to exploit policy shifts or executive schedules.