Trump ousts teleprompter operator gambling on his own words ... only after he amassed staggering six-figure sum

By ELINA SHIRAZI, US SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER Published: 20:58, 16 July 2026 | Updated: 20:58, 16 July 2026 President Donald Trump's longtime teleprompter operator has been sidelined from his White House role after federal investigators discovered he was using the President's speeches to rake in as much as $100,000 in winnings. The breach was confirmed in a press briefing today by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who returned to the podium for the very first time since her maternity leave. Facing a barrage of questions from a packed press room, Leavitt did not mince words about the President's personal reaction to the betrayal, declaring that the President believes the situation is 'painfully unfortunate and, frankly, a disgrace.' The scandal centers on Gabriel Perez, a key technical assistant who has managed Trump's teleprompter scripts since his first presidential campaign in 2016. Perez allegedly exploited his early access to upcoming speech drafts to place highly lucrative wagers on Kalshi's 'Mentions' market, according to federal watchdogs at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.  The platform allows users to bet on whether specific words, phrases, or topics will be spoken during major public addresses. Suspicious trading activity flagged by Kalshi itself sparked an investigation into Perez's activities over a busy three-month window.  Investigators reportedly found that he had wagered on more than a dozen Presidential events, including Trump's December primetime address, a January appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland and a Medal of Honor ceremony in March. Perez is now reportedly negotiating a settlement with federal regulators over claims he pocketed over $100,000 by leveraging his behind-the-scenes access. President Donald Trump's longtime teleprompter operator has been sidelined from his White House role after federal investigators discovered he was using insider knowledge of the President's speeches to rake in a staggering six-figure fortune on a prediction market The breach was confirmed in a press briefing today by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt , who returned to the podium for the very first time since her maternity leave Trump speaks during the General Debate of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the United Nations headquarters in New York Investigators reportedly found that he had wagered on more than a dozen Presidential events, including Trump's December primetime address, a January appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland and a Medal of Honor ceremony in March At the podium, Leavitt initially stumbled when describing Perez's current employment status, saying he had been placed on 'paid administrative leave,' however, she quickly corrected herself. She clarified that the administrative leave is unpaid, saying, 'To be very clear, that was a decision by the President' and adding flatly that 'this individual will no longer be here.' When asked if other administration officials were suspected of placing similar bets using privileged information, Leavitt responded, 'Not to my knowledge, not that I've been made aware of.' She maintained that the scandal was the result of a rogue actor bypassing existing protocols rather than a systemic failure of White House security or ethics. Leavitt insisted that the White House has always maintained strict rules, saying, 'There are very strict ethical guidelines here in the White House that explicitly state not to do this, and the White House Counsel's office makes that clear to all of us who sign up to work in government on behalf of the President.' She noted that Perez simply chose to ignore those standards, adding that 'this individual unfortunately violated the plan, and therefore he's paying the consequences.' When asked if other administration officials were suspected of placing similar bets using privileged information, Leavitt responded, 'Not to my knowledge, not that I've been made aware of The scandal centers on Gabriel Perez, a key technical assistant who has managed Trump's teleprompter scripts since his first presidential campaign in 2016 At the podium, Leavitt initially stumbled when describing Perez's current employment status, saying he had been placed on 'paid administrative leave,' however, she quickly corrected herself According to the White House Press Secretary, the mechanism for catching such behavior worked exactly as intended once the betting platform caught on.  She emphasized that Kalshi notified the CFTC of suspicious activity.  'They investigated that, identified the individual, and he will now no longer be working at the White House,' she said before moving on. With a major election integrity speech scheduled for tonight, a new operator will be behind the teleprompter screen.