The White House warned staff against engaging in insider trading, as well-timed bets related to the war in Iran have been called into question.
A series of trades on prediction sites, mostly on oil futures markets related to the U.S.-Israel conflict in Iran, raised the trading alarm bells.
Staff were warned in a White House memo on March 24 — the day after President Trump announced a bombing pause — against using nonpublic information to place bets, according to multiple reports.
The email from the White House Management Office reminded staffers that using privileged information is a criminal offense and that placing wagers using such information “for the private benefit of an employee or any other third party” violates federal ethics regulations.
“All White House employees are reminded that the misuse of nonpublic information by government employees for financial benefit is a very serious offense and will not be tolerated,” the email said, according to multiple reports.
White House spokesman Davis Ingle said in the memo that while the president seeks a “strong and profitable stock market for everyone … all federal employees are subject to government ethics guidelines that prohibit the use of nonpublic information for financial benefit. However, any implication that Administration officials are engaged in such activity without evidence is baseless and irresponsible reporting.”
The memo cited reports that “raised concerns” about government officials “using nonpublic government information to place wagers,” according to multiple outlets, but no public evidence links White House officials to suspicious trades.
The memo specifically mentioned the most popular prediction platforms, Kalshi and Polymarket.
Roughly 15 minutes before Mr. Trump posted his de-escalation announcement on Truth Social on March 23, rapid-fire trades made their way into oil and S&P 500 futures markets.
In less than two minutes, more than $760 million worth of oil futures changed hands, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
Mr. Trump’s critics, many of whom are Democrats, concluded that someone within the administration was using advance knowledge for personal profit.
Three Polymarket accounts collected over $600,000 by correctly betting on this week’s ceasefire.
Another made more than $550,000 after placing multiple bets on the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other related topics shortly before the first strikes in February, NPR reported.
