Kalshi is investigating bets on Trump's press secretary pick placed before announcement: WSJ

Prediction market Kalshi is investigating a series of trades that correctly predicted President Donald Trump would pick conservative commentator Katie Zacharia as his next White House press secretary, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

A Kalshi spokesperson confirmed the probe to the Journal and declined to comment further. Trades on Kalshi are anonymous to the public, but the company keeps records of its traders' identities.

The New York Times and other outlets began reporting Zacharia's selection around 2 p.m. ET on Friday. At least three wagers on her were placed beforehand, according to a Journal analysis of publicly available Kalshi data.

A $19 bet placed around 10:42 p.m. ET on Thursday is slated to pay out $1,896 once the market closes. Two more bets, for about $74 and $80, were placed around 1:41 p.m. on Friday and are expected to pay out $3,689 and $4,023.

Kalshi traders gave Zacharia about a 1% chance of being named to the post in the days before the reports, according to the Journal. Trump confirmed the appointment in a Truth Social post on Friday afternoon, naming Zacharia to succeed Karoline Leavitt. "I am confident that Katie will deliver strong results for our Country," Trump wrote.

Zacharia is a senior communications adviser at Trump Media & Technology Group, which operates Truth Social. She previously served as a spokesperson and deputy assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, according to Trump's post.

Insider trading on prediction markets

The White House did not return the Journal's request for comment, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) did not respond before the Journal's publication. The White House previously sent staff a memo warning them against using nonpublic information for private gain after a series of well-timed bets related to the Iran war, the Journal reported.

In August, former White House teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez agreed to repay $107,539 in profits and pay a $65,000 civil penalty to settle CFTC charges that he traded Kalshi mention markets after reading Trump's prepared remarks. The CFTC credited Kalshi with assisting in the case.

Kalshi also permanently banned former Rep. George Santos on Aug. 31 over trades tied to his State of the Union attendance and fined him just over $71,000. Santos had agreed in July to pay $35,000 to settle with the CFTC over the same bet, without admitting or denying the agency's findings.

In June, Kalshi began requiring traders to disclose their employers before trading in markets it deems at heightened risk of insider trading or manipulation. The company said at the time it had made more than 20 law enforcement referrals and opened more than 150 investigations in the first quarter.

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer opened a probe into insider trading on Kalshi and Polymarket in May, requesting documents on how the platforms verify identities and detect unusual trading.

The Block has reached out to Kalshi and the White House for comment.