Suspicious Kalshi Bets Predicted Trump’s Press Secretary Pick Before Announcement

Prediction market Kalshi is investigating a string of unusually well-timed bets that correctly forecast President Trump’s selection of Katie Zacharia as his next White House press secretary, according to a new report.Days before the announcement, Ms. Zacharia was trading at just a 1 percent chance of winning the job and wasn’t considered a frontrunner. Yet the Wall Street Journal found that one trader placed a $19 bet on Ms. Zacharia at around 10:43 p.m. ET Thursday night — a wager now expected to pay out $1,896 once the market settles.Two additional bets, totaling roughly $154, were placed around 1:41 p.m. Friday — just minutes before news outlets began reporting Ms. Zacharia’s selection. Those wagers are projected to return a combined $7,712.A Kalshi spokesman confirmed to the Journal that the company is investigating the trades but declined to share further details. While trades remain anonymous to the public, Kalshi retains internal records identifying its users.Mr. Trump made the appointment official Friday afternoon via a post on Truth Social.The incident adds to mounting concerns over Washington insiders exploiting prediction markets using nonpublic information. The White House previously cautioned staff against this practice following a separate wave of suspicious betting tied to the Iran war. In another case this past summer, former Trump teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez reportedly earned more than $100,000 betting on the content of the president’s speeches, including his February State of the Union address, while having advance access to his remarks. Mr. Perez was placed on unpaid leave and later ordered to forfeit his profits and pay a $65,000 fine, according to ABC News.Ms. Zacharia, 41, will succeed Karoline Leavitt, who departed the press secretary role in August. She currently serves as a communications adviser for Trump Media & Technology Group, which operates Truth Social, and previously held a brief position as a spokeswoman for then-Secretary Kristi Noem at the Department of Homeland Security.A frequent guest on conservative outlets like Fox News and Newsmax, Ms. Zacharia also contributed to Mr. Trump’s campaign efforts in key swing states. Announcing her appointment, Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social, “She has an unblemished record of support, and has been a loyal and brilliant supporter, right from the beginning.”Ms. Zacharia steps into the role during a turbulent political stretch, with the administration navigating a tough midterm season and ongoing legal battles over its effort to bar three news organizations from White House grounds.In her own social media post Friday, Ms. Zacharia said Ms. Leavitt had set a “high standard,” adding that she hopes “to continue delivering strong results for our Country and communicating to the American people the major wins that this Administration is making every single day.”An attorney trained at Pepperdine University, Ms. Zacharia lives in California and has worked for several conservative organizations, including Fix California and White Rose Resistance. She also spent roughly two years working in Beijing and says she has basic proficiency in Chinese.

Suspicious Kalshi Bets Predicted Trump’s Press Secretary Pick Before Announcement

Suspicious Kalshi Bets Predicted Trump’s Press Secretary Pick Before Announcement

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