"Betting with Advance Knowledge of Presidential Speeches"… Trump's Closest Aide Earns 150 Million Won

A Staff Member Whom Trump Trusted for a Decade

White House: "Trump’s Decision, Placed on Unpaid Leave"

Among those who unfairly profited from using undisclosed government information in the U.S. prediction market, one has been revealed to be the speechwriter for President Donald Trump.

U.S. President Donald Trump. Photo by Reuters Yonhap News

On July 16 (local time), ABC and CNN reported, citing multiple sources, that the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is investigating Gabriel Perez, Deputy Assistant to the President and Technology Advisor, for alleged insider trading at the prediction market Kalshi. Perez is responsible for managing the teleprompter that displays the president’s speeches during addresses.

White House spokesperson Caroline Leavitt stated at a briefing that Perez has been placed on unpaid leave and that the president, finding this to be a disgraceful matter, made the decision personally. Previously, President Trump had publicly mentioned that only Perez was allowed to operate his teleprompter and that he had trusted him for ten years.

Prediction markets are exchanges where participants place wagers on the outcome or timing of political or social events. Bets are often placed on topics such as whether or when U.S. military strikes will occur in Iran, with leading platforms including Polymarket and Kalshi.

Perez is alleged to have consistently bet on so-called "mention markets," where participants predict whether prominent figures like President Trump will use specific words or phrases in public remarks. Although Trump’s speeches are frequently revised until the final moments, Perez was one of the very few who had access to the final script.

As a result, he was in a position to easily profit from the mention market by leveraging his advance knowledge of the president’s remarks. Reports indicate that he earned approximately $100,000 (about 150 million won) through Kalshi.

On December 18, 2017, at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C., U.S. President Donald Trump is about to deliver a speech on the administration's national security strategy, while Gabriel Perez (right) adjusts the teleprompter. Photo by Reuters Yonhap News

Kalshi stated, "Our compliance team detected Perez's activity and referred the matter to the CFTC," but the CFTC declined to confirm whether Perez is under investigation. According to ABC, Perez is attempting to negotiate a settlement with the CFTC by offering to return his profits. Additionally, it was reported that federal prosecutors in Manhattan, New York, will not pursue criminal charges against him.

Foreign media outlets have noted that this case marks the first confirmed instance of insider trading by a White House official in a prediction market since the sector’s rapid growth earlier this year. However, some experts warn that this could be just "the tip of the iceberg," as suspicions of insider trading involving White House staff, military personnel, and their families have been repeatedly raised over military operations in Venezuela and Iran, as well as over President Trump’s social networking site (SNS) posts.

In fact, this past April, a U.S. service member was arrested for allegedly profiting about $400,000 (approximately 590 million won) on Polymarket using information about an operation to oust Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro.

Suspicious trading was detected not only in prediction markets, but also repeatedly in stock and crude oil futures markets just prior to President Trump’s announcements. On March 23, roughly 15 minutes before President Trump posted on his social network Truth Social that "strikes on Iran's energy infrastructure will be halted for five days," trading volumes for Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures surged. Between 6:49 p.m. and 6:51 p.m., at least 7 million barrels worth of futures contracts were executed, more than 20 times the usual trading volume.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.