CFTC fines former White House aide $172,000 for trading on Trump speech information

The U.S. ​Commodity Futures Trading Commission on ​Friday ordered former White ‌House ​teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez to pay $172,539 for using advance access to President Donald Trump's speeches ‌to make illegal trades on a prediction-market platform.

Perez must repay $107,539.02 in profits and pay a $65,000 civil penalty under a settlement with the ‌CFTC. He also agreed to a three-year trading ban and ‌to cease and desist from further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations. The CFTC said Perez traded presidential "mention market" contracts on Kalshi ⁠between ​December 2025 and ⁠February 2026 while working at the White House. The contracts are event contracts ⁠that pay out based on whether a president uses specific words or ​phrases in speeches.

Perez could not immediately be reached for ⁠comment. He was put on unpaid leave and is no longer working ⁠for ​the federal government. Perez had access to Trump's speeches before they were delivered and used that material, nonpublic information to trade the ⁠contracts for his personal benefit, the CFTC said.

The agency said ⁠Perez's $65,000 penalty ⁠represented a substantial discount because of his "exemplary cooperation" with the investigation. The CFTC also credited KalshiEX with assisting ‌in ‌the matter. (Reporting By Jarrett Renshaw; Editing ​by Cynthia Osterman)