Gabriel Perez is placed on unpaid leave after allegedly using inside knowledge to profit from bets on President Trump's speeches.

The administration announced that Gabriel Perez, the longtime teleprompter operator for President Trump, has been placed on unpaid administrative leave. Federal investigators from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission found that Perez allegedly used his inside knowledge to make more than $100,000 in profits on the prediction market Kalshi. Perez, who has served as a technical assistant since 2016, placed bets on more than a dozen speeches, including the State of the Union address. Kalshi flagged the suspicious activity on its "Mentions" market, where users bet on specific words or phrases uttered by public figures. While federal prosecutors in Manhattan declined to open a criminal investigation, Perez is currently in talks with regulators to settle the allegations. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that President Trump viewed the situation as a "disgrace" and decided to remove Perez from his role. The White House emphasized that strict ethics guidelines are in place to prevent staffers from misappropriating nonpublic information for personal financial gain.

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