White House teleprompter operator put on leave over Kalshi bets

A White House teleprompter operator for President Donald Trump was placed on unpaid administrative leave after federal regulators investigated whether he profited from betting on the president's prepared remarks on Kalshi. NPR and PBS identified the employee as Gabriel Perez, a deputy assistant to the president who allegedly made more than $100,000 on bets tied to words Trump would or would not say in public appearances, including the State of the Union in February. NPR reported Kalshi's surveillance team flagged unusual trading, referred the matter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and froze about $90,000 in profits. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Perez is cooperating and no other staff members are under investigation.