Trump's Speech Operator Faces Insider Trading Allegations
WHO:
Alternet - Gabriel Perez, technical assistant to President Trump, has been operating his teleprompter since the 2016 election.
CNN - Gabriel Perez, a White House employee and deputy assistant to the president and technical advisor.
CNN - Mike Selig, chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), a Trump appointee.
WHAT:
ABC News - CFTC investigators discovered that Perez placed bets on more than a dozen Trump speeches over a three-month period, including a speech in March during a Medal of Honor ceremony.
ABC News - At some point during the investigation, the CFTC alerted federal prosecutors in Manhattan, who declined to open a criminal investigation.
ABC News - Regulators at the CFTC have expressed a willingness to settle with Perez, discussing terms that would require him to give back his profits and refrain from making similar trades.
CNN - Perez's 2026 salary is $175,000, making him one of the highest-paid members of White House staff.
CNN - Trump praised Perez during an event in Reno on the 2024 campaign trail, stating, “I have a guy, Gabe. He’s excellent. I’ve had some real bad ones, but I have Gabe.”
Alternet - Perez is under investigation for allegedly using inside knowledge of Trump's speeches to win more than $100,000 on bets via the betting platform Kalshi.
CNN - Perez made more than $90,000 in profits from the trades in question, which have been frozen.
TMZ - Perez allegedly won over $100,000 betting on what Trump would say before he said it.
Alternet - CFTC investigators discovered that Perez placed bets on more than a dozen Trump speeches over a three-month period.
CNN - The White House issued a memo warning staff against insider trading on prediction markets.
WHERE:
Alternet - The investigation involves the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the betting platform Kalshi.
CNN - The investigation pertains to events including a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
WHEN:
Alternet - The investigation includes bets placed during a three-month period, including a December primetime address and a January speech.
CNN - The White House memo warning against insider trading was issued on March 24.
WHY:
CNN - The investigation was prompted by suspicious trading activity flagged by Kalshi, which has a strict policy against insider trading.
HOW:
Alternet - Kalshi notified the CFTC of suspicious activity, and their surveillance team flagged the trades.
CNN - Perez has cooperated with the CFTC investigation and acknowledged some of the trades during an interview with regulators.
(UPDATED July 16, 2026 19:21 UTC)
CFTC investigators have found that Gabe Perez placed bets on more than a dozen Trump speeches over a three-month period, including one during a Medal of Honor ceremony in March. Although the CFTC alerted federal prosecutors in Manhattan during their investigation, they ultimately decided not to pursue a criminal case. Regulators are now open to settling with Perez, which would involve him returning his profits and agreeing not to make similar trades in the future, while he currently earns a salary of $175,000, making him one of the highest-paid members of the White House staff.
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(UPDATED July 16, 2026 18:21 UTC)
Gabriel Perez, a technical assistant to Trump, is under investigation for allegedly using insider knowledge from the president's speeches to profit over $100,000 through bets on the Kalshi platform. Investigators from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission discovered that Perez placed bets on more than a dozen of Trump's speeches, including a December primetime address and a January speech, with his trades now frozen. The White House has issued a memo warning staff against insider trading on prediction markets, following suspicious trading activity flagged by Kalshi.