Trump's Teleprompter Operator Allegedly Made $90,000 Betting on What the President Would Say

Donald Trump’s longtime teleprompter operator allegedly made more than $90,000 on Kalshi by betting on what the president would say in his speeches, even selling out of positions live when Trump went off script.

Gabriel Perez, who has reportedly operated Trump’s teleprompter since the 2016 campaign, allegedly bet on more than a dozen speeches over three months, according to ABC News reporting on Thursday.

Targets included the State of the Union, Trump’s Davos remarks and a Medal of Honor ceremony.

The trades were placed on Kalshi’s “Mentions” market, where users bet on whether specific words or phrases will be uttered during a speech. Perez, an employee of VIP Prompting, the private contractor that has reportedly handled White House teleprompters since the 1960s, typically has final eyes on the president’s prepared remarks.

Perez was previously examined by congressional and federal investigators over last-minute edits to Trump’s speech on Jan. 6, 2021, which preceded the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

He Sold Out Of Bets Live As Trump Ad-Libbed

Trump is famous for going off script. “I go off teleprompter about 80% of the time,” he told the Detroit Economic Club in January, a speech investigators believe Perez also bet on.

Investigators found instances where Perez sold out of positions mid-speech when Trump skipped a section containing a word he had wagered on, according to ABC News.

Kalshi’s surveillance team flagged the anomalous trading in March and froze the account before the funds could be withdrawn, referring the case to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Manhattan prosecutors declined to open a criminal investigation, and the CFTC has reportedly discussed a settlement requiring Perez to forfeit his profits.

Trump Says He Doesn’t Like Prediction Markets ‘Conceptually’

Asked about prediction markets in April, the president sounded ambivalent. “The whole world, unfortunately, has become somewhat of a casino,” he said, adding: “I was never much in favor of it. I don’t like it conceptually, but it is what it is.”

Yet Trump has also fiercely defended the industry. He recently called politicians who want individual states to regulate prediction markets “SCUM” on Truth Social, arguing authority should rest exclusively with the CFTC, the same agency now handling the Perez case.

Trump is set to deliver an address to the nation tonight at 9 p.m. ET, promising “really, really big news.” The president is expected to discuss newly declassified intelligence on U.S. elections.

Kalshi traders have already wagered over $690,000 on which words he will say, with “China” trading at 82% and “Stolen” among the favorites.

Image: Shutterstock

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