The man responsible for scrolling the words on Donald Trump’s teleprompter has been placed on leave after it emerged he allegedly earned more than US$100,000 — roughly $170,000 — on prediction markets by wagering on what the president would say in upcoming speeches.
The story, first broken in the United States and quickly picked up by outlets from New Zealand’s Stuff to Norway’s Dagbladet, raises sharp questions about insider exploitation of the booming prediction-market industry. Armed with advance knowledge of speech texts, the staffer was uniquely positioned to place bets with near-certainty on highly specific outcomes — a practice that, while not necessarily illegal under current federal law, represents an ethically explosive new frontier in political gambling.
No charges have been announced, but the White House confirmed the aide’s suspension pending an internal review.
