Trump’s Former Teleprompter Operator Ordered to Pay $172k After Betting on President’s Speeches

Gabriel Perez, AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

A former teleprompter technician for President Donald Trump was ordered to pay $172,000 after he was caught placing bets on his boss’s speeches.

In July, ABC News first reported that Gabriel Perez was accused of using Kalshi, a gambling website, to wager on “more than a dozen” of Trump’s speeches. Perez hauled in more than $100,000 in the site’s “Mentions” market, where bettors can place wagers on whether particular words, phrases, or topics will be mentioned in a given public speech. The bets were placed over a three-month period that included a Trump speech in December 2025, the State of the Union address, an address at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, and a Medal of Honor ceremony in March.

Perez’s bets drew the attention of Kalshi, which reported unusual activity to its regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

On Friday night, the CFTC issued a press release saying that it had settled the matter with Perez, who had worked for Trump since 2016 until his wagers became public this year.

“Under the order, Perez must disgorge the profits he made from his unlawful trading totaling $107,539.02 and pay a civil monetary penalty of $65,000, representing a substantial discount under the Division of Enforcement’s new cooperation advisory because of Perez’s exemplary cooperation with the CFTC,” the statement said. “Perez agreed to cease and desist from further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations. Under the order, a three-year trading ban is imposed on Perez.”

In April, the Department of Justice indicted Gannon Ken Van Dyke, a U.S. special operations soldier who participated in the January abduction of then-Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The indictment alleges that Van Dyke netted more than $409,000 on Polymarket by wagering on Maduro’s ouster. Van Dyke has pleaded not guilty.

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