White House teleprompter operator settles insider trading charges

A former White House worker has been ordered to pay $172,000 after using secret information from his job to win money on a betting website. Gabriel Perez worked as a teleprompter operator, so he knew in advance what words President Trump would say in his speeches. He used that knowledge to place bets on a platform called Kalshi, where users can bet on words that will appear in public speeches. Between December 2025 and February 2026, he made around $107,500 this way. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said this was illegal because federal employees cannot use nonpublic information for personal profit. Perez must return his winnings and pay a $65,000 fine. He is also banned from trading for three years.