World
Trump's Teleprompter Operator Suspended Over Allegations He Bet on His Speech Wording
Gabriel Perez, who has operated Donald Trump's teleprompter since 2016, was placed on unpaid administrative leave on July 16, 2026, after allegations that he used his advance access to presidential speech texts to place bets on Kalshi, an online predictive-markets platform founded in 2018. Perez reportedly wagered on specific words and phrases Trump would speak through Kalshi's "mentions" market. His estimated profits—between $90,000 and over $100,000 depending on sources—have been frozen by regulators. Kalshi's compliance team detected unusual betting patterns and reported them to the CFTC, the federal agency overseeing predictive markets.