White House suspends Trump teleprompter operator for betting on speeches

Published Jul 16, 09:21 PM UTC

The White House has suspended Gabriel Perez, President Donald Trump's longtime teleprompter operator, after he allegedly earned over $100,000 by betting on specific words, phrases, and topics in Trump's speeches on the prediction platform Kalshi. Perez, who had operated the teleprompter since 2016, placed bets on Trump's address at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January and his State of the Union speech in February. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt stated that Trump considers the incident 'extremely regrettable and, frankly, a disgrace,' and that Perez has been placed on unpaid leave and will no longer work at the White House. Kalshi informed the US regulatory authority CFTC about suspicious activities and froze more than $90,000 of the winnings before Perez could withdraw them. The incident is further complicated by the fact that Donald Trump Jr., the president's son, has been an advisor at Kalshi since January 2025.

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