Former US Presidential teleprompter operator punished for insider trading

Until recently, Perez worked as a so-called teleprompter operator for the US President. In this position, he knew Trump's speech texts in advance; He also made short-term changes.

You can bet on whether an event will happen on platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket. Polymarket is not authorized in the USA, Kalshi is regulated by the US trading authority CFTC. The authority expressly thanked Kalshi for his support in the Perez case - thereby confirming that the teleprompter employee had bet on this platform.

Among other things, Kalshi lets users make deals based on the likelihood that certain words or sentences will be used or a topic will be addressed at an event. Perez made such bets on Trump's speeches from December 2025 to February 2026, the CFTC said. According to a report by the US broadcaster ABC, this was the case during Trump's State of the Union speech and other appearances by the president.

Perez had already been placed on leave from the White House when suspicions of insider trading arose. The CFTC said he cooperated exemplary with the supervisory authority during the investigation. Therefore, the actual penalty was reduced significantly to the amount of $65,000. Perez has also committed himself not to violating insider trading rules in the future. A three-year trading ban was imposed on him.