White House teleprompter operator put on leave over alleged bets on Trump speeches

The brief

Donald Trump’s longtime teleprompter operator has been placed on administrative leave, the White House said on Thursday, after reports that he used his position to win $100,000 by placing bets on the president’s speeches using the online prediction market Kalshi. The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said the president had been informed about the situation, which she described as “deeply unfortunate and frankly a disgrace”. Leavitt said the employee had been placed on unpaid administrative leave and that another person would be operating Trump’s teleprompter during Thursday night’s address to the nation on election integrity. “The White House has extremely strict ethical guidelines with respect to issues like this,”…