Trump's Former Teleprompter Fined by CFTC
Mike Goodpaster Published 02/09/2026
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced an order filing and is settling charges against Gabriel Perez. Perez, the former teleprompter for U.S. President Donald Trump, was cited for misappropriating materials. These materials were nonpublic information obtained through his federal government employment. Perez used this information to trade event contracts on a prediction market platform for his personal benefit.
Under the order, Perez must disgorge the profits he made from his unlawful trading totaling $107,539.02 and pay a civil monetary penalty of $65,000. Perez agreed to cease and desist from further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations. Under the order, a three-year trading ban is imposed on Perez.
Perez used information he gleaned from Presidential addresses to make prediction market trades
Between December of 2025 and February of 2026, while working as a teleprompter operator for the White House, Perez traded presidential mention market contracts, the CFTC noted in a release. These are event contracts reflecting words or phrases the President may use during his speeches. In his position, Perez had access to presidential speeches prior to those speeches being delivered.
Among the speeches that Perez profited on through insider trades was February's State of the Union Address. He also made trades on the National Prayer Breakfast and a Medal of Honor ceremony. Perez placed 49 trades and won 39 of them,
Perez misappropriated that information—in breach of his duty of trust and confidence—to trade presidential mention market contracts. Through these trades, he was able to generate over $107,500 in profits.
The CFTC pointed out that the fine issued to Perez represented a substantial discount under the Division of Enforcement’s new cooperation advisory because of Perez’s exemplary cooperation with the CFTC during the investigation.
For participating in insider trading, Perez was also banned from using any prediction market site for three years. He was also removed from his position by the White House.
Perez served as a technical assistant to the President. He had been employed as a teleprompter operator for Trump since 2016. He was paid $175,000 in annual salary for his role.
CFTC praises Kalshi for helping with the investigation
Perez made his trades through the prediction market site Kalshi. The CFTC made it a point to acknowledge Kalshi's role in making the case against Perez.
"The CFTC appreciates the assistance of KalshiEX in this matter," the federal regulator pointed out in its release on the matter.
It was Kalshi that first raised the red flags on the unusual trading undertaken by Perez.
“A Kalshi surveillance investigation caught a White House staffer engaging in prohibited trading activity. Today this individual was subjected to penalties by the CFTC and by our exchange,” Bobby DeNault, Kalshi’s lead lawyer, said in a post on X.
“It doesn’t matter who you are: violate our rules or federal law, and you will face the consequences.”
White House was critical of Perez's actions
A White House administration that's been known for its fair share of scandal was quick to pounce on Perez for his lack of ethics.
NBC News reported that in July, when the charges against Perez first came to light, members of the Trump Administration held him in contempt. Then-White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called the online trades a breach of ethics and “deeply unfortunate and frankly a disgrace.”
Leavitt said at the time that “this individual will no longer be here.”