Trump's teleprompter operator under CFTC probe over potential insider trading, sources say

Trump's teleprompter operator under CFTC probe over potential insider trading, sources say.

U.S. President Donald Trump's longtime teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez is under investigation by federal regulators over potential insider trading on prediction market platform Kalshi, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Kalshi identified the suspicious trading activity through its market surveillance processes and referred the matter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

"Our surveillance team promptly flagged and referred these trades to the CFTC after an exchange investigation. We have been assisting regulators on this matter and provided evidence we collected, as we do in any referral," Robert DeNault, head of enforcement at Kalshi, told Reuters in a statement.

The President is aware of the teleprompter operator, and the staffer is now on unpaid leave, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday. Leavitt later added that Perez will no longer be working at the White House. "The CFTC can't confirm or deny an investigation," a spokesperson for the regulator said.

Kalshi's mention markets include contracts that allow traders to wager on whether a specific word or phrase will be said during public events such as speeches, broadcasts or corporate earnings calls. Such markets have faced regulatory scrutiny, including from the CFTC over concerns that they could be vulnerable to insider trading or manipulation by people with advance access to prepared remarks or speech transcripts.

Kalshi froze the account, and the account holder was caught before the profits, which were somewhere over $90,000, were taken off the platform, according to the source. ABC News reported the CFTC investigation earlier on Thursday.