Democrats press White House on prediction market betting by staff

The request follows a July report that Gabriel Perez, President Donald Trump’s longtime teleprompter operator, allegedly made over $100,000 on prediction market Kalshi by betting on which words Trump would use in more than a dozen speeches. Perez later reached a settlement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that required him to surrender his profits, pay a penalty, and agree to a three-year trading ban.

“It has been four months since this White House insider trading scandal came to light, and we write to you to understand what further steps—if any—your office is taking to prevent abuses of power,” read a copy of the letter shared with Fortune.

The letter also asked whether White House staff receive training on rules against using nonpublic information to trade or bet and whether officials contacted the CFTC or Justice Department about Perez’s case. They requested a copy of a memo warning staff against such bets and answers to their questions by Nov. 23.

The White House did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.

The case is one of several that have raised concerns about insiders using nonpublic information to profit on prediction markets. In April, federal prosecutors charged a U.S. soldier with using classified information to make more than $400,000 on Polymarket bets tied to the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. In February, six newly created Polymarket accounts drew scrutiny after earning roughly $1 million in combined profits betting the U.S. would strike Iran before the month ended.

The letter offers a preview of the scrutiny the Trump administration could face when Democrats retake control of Congress in January. Warren is expected to chair the Senate Banking Committee, giving her a powerful platform to investigate financial firms and potential conflicts involving the president’s family businesses.

Other Democrats are also pushing for restrictions on prediction markets. On Tuesday, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) called on Congress to ban sports prediction markets, describing them as “sports betting disguised as financial trading.”

The Trump family has expanded its ties to the prediction market industry during Trump’s second term. Donald Trump Jr. advises both Kalshi and Polymarket, and 1789 Capital, the venture firm where he is a partner, has invested in Polymarket. Trump Media, the company behind Truth Social in which the president holds a stake through a trust, announced plans in October 2025 for a prediction market service called Truth Predict with crypto exchange Crypto.com. It later scaled back the initial offering to a marketing partnership.