White House teleprompter operator on unpaid leave after reports he made more than $100k betting on Trump's speeches

White House teleprompter operator on unpaid leave after reports he made more than $100k betting on Trump's speeches White House teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez (R) is on unpaid leave after reports that he used betting platforms like Kalshi to profit from President Donald Trump's speeches. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images A White House teleprompter operator has been placed on unpaid leave following reports that he used a prediction betting platform to profit from the content of President Donald Trump's speeches.Gabriel Perez, who has worked for Trump since his first presidential campaign, is being investigated by the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) over allegations that he used inside knowledge of Trump's speeches to earn more than $100,000 through bets on Kalshi, according to a person familiar with the matter. ABC News was first to report the allegations.White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, in a briefing with reporters on Thursday, confirmed that Perez had been placed on unpaid administrative leave at the president's direction following the ABC report."Obviously, I'm aware of the report — the president is, too. I spoke with him about it," Leavitt told reporters. "He believes it's deeply unfortunate and, frankly, a disgrace. And the individual that was cited in that report is complying with the CFTC, but has been put on paid administrative leave. So there will be a teleprompter operator tonight, of course, but it will not be the one, unfortunately, in that story."Perez, who earns $175,000 annually as a member of the White House staff, has long been a trusted member of Trump's production team. The president has publicly praised Perez's work in the past, thanking him during campaign events and crediting him with helping keep speeches running smoothly.Robert DeNault, the head of enforcement for Kalshi, told Business Insider in a statement that the platform's surveillance team flagged and referred the trades to the CFTC after an internal investigation.Beginning in March, Kalshi's surveillance system identified unusual trades in its "mention markets" tied to specific words in Trump's speeches, which led it to Perez, according to a person familiar with the matter. Following the internal investigation, Kalshi froze funds totaling over $90,000 in his accounts before Perez could cash out most of his profits on the platform, the person said. "We have charged this individual and have been assisting regulators on this matter and provided evidence we collected, as we do in any referral," DeNault said.When reached for comment by Business Insider, White House representatives pointed to Leavitt's public remarks to reporters about the incident and declined to comment further. A CFTC spokesperson refused to confirm or deny the existence of an investigation into Perez.The case is among the highest-profile allegations involving alleged insider trading on prediction markets, which have exploded in popularity over the past year by allowing users to wager on everything from elections to economic data to the contents of presidential speeches.Kalshi and other prediction market platforms, such as Polymarket, prohibit users from trading on material nonpublic information. The platforms have increasingly expanded their internal surveillance systems as regulators and lawmakers scrutinize how the markets police potential abuse.Business Insider previously reported that Kalshi referred former Rep. George Santos to the Justice Department and CFTC after detecting suspicious trades tied to whether he would attend Trump's State of the Union address. Santos has denied wrongdoing.Business Insider also reported on another case in which a US soldier was indicted on charges of using classified military information to make bets on Polymarket, winning more than $400,000. Read next Katherine (Tangalakis-Lippert) Ortiz was a senior reporter on Business Insider's West Coast team. For four and a half years, her coverage spanned topics and industries, including chasing breaking news — such as the assassination attempts against President Donald Trump, and major legal actions against companies like Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI — as well as producing scoops about the Supreme Court, Starbucks, and many more. Katherine has worked on award-nominated projects and has appeared on Good Morning America, NBC, CNN, and other outlets to discuss her reporting.Prior to joining Business Insider, she covered retail, hospitality, and nonprofits at the San Fernando Valley Business Journal and received a master's degree in investigative reporting from the University of Southern California.Reach outDo you have feedback or a story tip? Contact Katherine on Signal at byktl.50, or follow her on Twitter and Instagram @scrawlgirl.Some of the highlights from her time at Business Insider include: Starbucks set up a new office. It's a 5-minute drive from the CEO's California home.Inside Starbucks' crackdown on cup notesEndless Shrimp was Red Lobster's rock bottom. Now it's clawing back.Clarence Thomas raised him 'as a son.' Now he's facing 25-plus years on weapons and drug charges.Call her Ivanka Kushner'Maybe I'll just resign:' Federal workers react to DOGE productivity emailSpaceX launches cause late-night booms that rattle windows, set off car alarms, and may damage property. Locals are pushing back.The US-China tech race is moving from chips to the raw materials they're made of Natalie is a senior reporter on Business Insider's Business News team.She was previously on BI's Legal Affairs team where she covered major cases out of state and federal court, as well as bankruptcy. Her coverage often focused on stories at the intersection of law, business, politics and technology. Natalie has covered Donald Trump’s criminal and civil cases, the wave of lawsuits against the second Trump administration, the indictment and criminal trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs, the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, and the legal battles facing Elon Musk and his companies. Natalie came to Business Insider in June 2021 as a breaking news reporter, focusing on the most interesting angles around the trending news of the day. Natalie largely drove BI’s coverage around the fatal “Rust” shooting involving Alec Baldwin and the disappearance and murder of Gabby Petito.Prior to joining BI, Natalie worked for the New York Post, the New York Daily News, and The Brooklyn Paper. She has an extensive background covering crime and courts. During her more than 12-year journalism career, she did a stint covering the police beat out of the headquarters for the New York Police Department. Natalie, a Brooklyn native, graduated from Brooklyn College in 2012 with a journalism degree. 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