Democrats press White House on prediction market betting by staff
Two Democratic senators are pressing the White House to disclose whether employees have used inside information to trade on prediction market platforms.
Key points
- 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.
- 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.
- “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.
Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) sent a letter to White House counsel Will Scharf on Monday asking what safeguards the administration has in place to prevent staff from using confidential government information to profit from bets.
Additional details
- 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.
- The White House did not immediately respond to Fortune ’s request for comment.
- Other Democrats are also pushing for restrictions on prediction markets.
- In February, six newly created Polymarket accounts drew scrutiny after earning roughly $1 million in combined profits betting the U.S.
- The letter offers a preview of the scrutiny the Trump administration could face when Democrats retake control of Congress in January.
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