Trump’s Teleprompter Operator Caught Doing What?

The White House has placed a teleprompter operator on administrative leave after allegations surfaced that he used advance knowledge of President Donald Trump’s speeches to place bets on a prediction market.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Thursday that the employee identified in recent reports is cooperating with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as federal authorities investigate the matter. She said the individual has been removed from duty while the review is underway.

Leavitt also said President Trump has been briefed on the situation and described his reaction as one of disappointment. According to Leavitt, Trump called the allegations “deeply unfortunate” and “a disgrace.” She added that a different teleprompter operator would handle the president’s primetime address later that evening.

The controversy emerged after prediction market platform Kalshi announced it had identified suspicious trading activity connected to Trump’s scheduled speeches and referred the matter to federal regulators. The company said its internal monitoring systems detected unusual betting patterns and immediately alerted the CFTC.

ABC News reported that Gabriel Perez, who has worked with Trump since 2016, is engaged in settlement discussions with the CFTC over allegations that he used nonpublic information about the president’s speeches to place wagers on the Kalshi platform.

Robert DeNault, Kalshi’s head of enforcement and legal counsel, said the company promptly investigated the activity before referring its findings to regulators. He added that Kalshi has cooperated fully with the investigation and provided all evidence collected during its internal review.

Federal officials have not announced whether any formal enforcement action or criminal charges will result from the investigation, which remains ongoing.