Trump says he'll look into federal worker prediction market bets

Catherine Lucey, Bloomberg News on Apr 23, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he would investigate federal employees placing bets on event-betting platforms, indicating concerns with prediction markets amid worries that individuals are using confidential government information to profit.

Trump was asked Thursday about reports that federal authorities had arrested a special forces soldier involved in the capture of Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro for a successful $400,000 bet that the leader would be ousted from office. ABC News reported on the arrest, citing people familiar.

“I’ll look into it,” Trump told reporters, adding that he long had issues with the concept of event-betting platforms.

“Well, you know, the whole world, unfortunately, has become somewhat of a casino,” Trump said. “And you look at what’s going on all over the world, in Europe and every place they’re doing these betting things. I was never much in favor of it. I don’t like it conceptually.”

A series of recent well-timed and profitable bets have raised questions about potential insider trading around the president’s military actions against Iran and Venezuela. The White House last month sent an internal staff-wide email that warned employees against using confidential information to place bets on financial markets or prediction platforms.

Trump likened the purported case involving the special forces soldier to baseball legend Pete Rose, who placed bets on his own Cincinnati Reds.

“Now, if he bet against his team, that would be no good, but he bet on his own team,” Trump said. The president has called for Rose to be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Rose received a lifetime ban for his sports betting.