Kalshi says it spotted suspicious trading tied to markets on President Donald Trump’s speeches before anyone raised the issue publicly, then investigated the activity and alerted federal regulators.
The prediction market exchange offered its first public account of the matter Thursday (July 16) through a statement from Robert Denault, Kalshi’s Head of Legal and Enforcement. His comments followed reports that President Trump’s longtime teleprompter operator is believed to have earned more than $100,000 by betting on markets connected to the president’s speeches.
In a statement posted Thursday on X, Denault wrote: “The Kalshi surveillance team promptly flagged, investigated and referred these trades to the CFTC. We have been assisting regulators on this matter and provided all evidence that we collected, as we do with any referral.”
His comments were the company’s first public explanation of how it responded after detecting the alleged trading. Kalshi said its surveillance systems identified the activity, its team reviewed the trades internally, and the company voluntarily turned over its findings to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
White House confirms action against Trump teleprompter over alleged Kalshi trades
Questions about the investigation quickly reached the White House during Thursday’s press briefing.
Reporters asked who would handle the president’s teleprompter duties after news surfaced that the longtime operator was under investigation. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration was aware of the situation and confirmed President Trump had also been briefed.
“The president is too,” Leavitt said. “He believes it’s deeply unfortunate and frankly, a disgrace.”
She said the individual is cooperating with the CFTC’s investigation and confirmed he would no longer carry out his White House responsibilities.
“There will be a teleprompter operator tonight, of course, but it will not be the one, unfortunately, in that story,” she said.
Leavitt also addressed questions about how the administration intends to avoid similar situations in the future. She pointed to existing ethics policies and announced that the employee had been placed on unpaid administrative leave.
“The administrative leave is unpaid, to be very clear,” she said. “That was a decision by the president.”
Regulators have not announced any enforcement action, and no criminal or civil charges have been made public. The investigation remains ongoing.
Questions focus on potential informational advantage
According to ABC News, the inquiry centers on Gabriel Perez, who served as one of President Trump’s teleprompter operators. The report said Perez allegedly profited by trading contracts linked to presidential speeches while having advance access to remarks before they were delivered publicly.
After the report was published, Perez’s LinkedIn profile was no longer publicly available.
The allegations have drawn attention because prediction markets depend on participants having access to the same public information. If someone possesses material nonpublic information that could affect an event’s outcome, regulators may examine whether that person gained an improper trading advantage.
Kalshi has stressed that it detected the activity through its own monitoring systems rather than waiting for an outside complaint. Denault’s statement also suggested that the company shared the evidence it gathered with federal regulators as part of its referral.
The exchange did not discuss details of the investigation beyond confirming its cooperation with the CFTC.
Kalshi says monitoring worked as intended
The investigation comes only months after Kalshi broadened its efforts to prevent insider trading across its platform.
In March 2026, the company introduced new automated safeguards intended to prevent politicians, political candidates, athletes, referees, and other insiders from participating in markets they could influence.
Instead of relying only on investigations after trades have been completed, Kalshi said the new technology is designed to stop prohibited traders before orders are executed.
The company also announced a partnership with integrity-monitoring firm IC360 to help screen participants connected to professional and collegiate sports. At the same time, it expanded oversight of political markets to include declared candidates.
Kalshi said those measures reflected growing regulatory attention, CFTC guidance, and legislative proposals focused on insider trading risks in prediction markets.
The exchange also rolled out a whistleblower tool that allows users to report suspicious trading directly from individual market pages.
At the time, Kalshi said: “Ensuring market integrity is not just a goal—it is a cornerstone of our business model.”
The company has increasingly drawn attention to those initiatives as prediction markets continue to expand into politics and other high-profile events.
Earlier this year, Kalshi also publicized disciplinary actions involving three political candidates: Minnesota state Sen. Matt Klein, Virginia Senate candidate Mark Moran, and Texas congressional candidate Ezekiel Enriquez.
According to the company, each case involved Kalshi Rule 5.17(z), which bars people who can influence an event’s outcome from trading contracts tied to that event.
The penalties included five-year suspensions from the platform, financial sanctions, and, in one instance, the disgorgement of trading profits.
Kalshi said those actions demonstrated that its surveillance systems were identifying prohibited activity and reinforced the value of expanding automated safeguards that could prevent questionable trades before they occur.
Featured image: RawPixel / CC0 license
The post Kalshi says it flagged and referred Trump teleprompter operator trades to CFTC as White House responds appeared first on ReadWrite.
