CHICAGO, IL – Yesterday, Governor JB Pritzker published a Substack article, calling out Donald Trump’s refusal to crack down on government officials engaging in insider trading on prediction platforms.
Gov. Pritzker demanded more ethical guidelines to stop Trump and other insiders from defrauding the American people: “I don’t want anyone to wonder if their state employees are using insider knowledge to make winning bets – or worse – using their positions of power to tip the scales in favor of bets they have placed. That is why I issued an executive order banning state employees from using insider information to make bets on prediction market platforms. Every governor should do the same. Donald Trump should do the same. Predictably, he has not.”
Gov. Pritzker said that Trump will not put the interests of the American people ahead of his own profit: “In addition, as is so often the case, Donald Trump has a clear conflict of interest. His son, Don Jr., is a paid advisor to Kalshi and an unpaid advisor and investor in Polymarket. That means that the better these companies do, the more money the Trump family will make. We all know that if Donald Trump decides to put the interests of the American people ahead of his family’s wealth, it will be for the first time.”
Read the full piece below:
JB Pritzker | Substack: Donald Trump Called Me “SCUM” for the Dumbest Reason Yet
The smallest things set off Donald Trump. But I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect to set him off by issuing the most basic ethical guardrails for prediction platforms.
I know a thing or two about poker, enough to see when the deck is stacked. Prediction market platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi have made it possible for people to win or lose fortunes betting on an increasing number of aspects of our lives, including government affairs. A lot of those users don’t realize how badly the deck is stacked against them.
These platforms host prediction pools on things that are fully known by some government employees, like decisions about legislation and dates of government announcements. Currently, Polymarket and Kalshi are hosting pools on events that my office (and many other government offices) are party to, and they have few guardrails to stop people with insider knowledge from using it. I don’t want anyone to wonder if their state employees are using insider knowledge to make winning bets – or worse – using their positions of power to tip the scales in favor of bets they have placed.
That is why I issued an executive order banning state employees from using insider information to make bets on prediction market platforms. Every governor should do the same. Donald Trump should do the same. Predictably, he has not.
There is growing evidence that prediction markets are the latest ploy by grifters in the Trump administration to get richer. First, there is the obvious: there have been some suspicious bets.
Earlier this year, Donald Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, dashed out on a press briefing after 64 minutes and 30 seconds. Her abrupt exit resulted in payouts to Kalshi traders who bet her press conference would last fewer than 65 minutes. Not all of the suspicious bets have been as mundane. In May, it was discovered that nine connected Polymarket accounts had made $2.4 million on bets related to the Iran war.
In addition, as is so often the case, Donald Trump has a clear conflict of interest. His son, Don Jr., is a paid advisor to Kalshi and an unpaid advisor and investor in Polymarket. That means that the better these companies do, the more money the Trump family will make. We all know that if Donald Trump decides to put the interests of the American people ahead of his family’s wealth, it will be for the first time.
As long as Donald Trump is president, the federal government is not going to take even the most basic measures to prevent insider trading. That is why I issued my executive order. He did not take it well:
There are worse things than being called “SCUM” by the most corrupt president in history.
This tantrum looks like it was ghostwritten by a corporate lobbyist. It also makes it obvious that Donald Trump’s loyalties lie with the prediction markets that are set to make his family even richer. He’s achieved in government what he never could in business: he’s finally making a profit.
Never mind that he and his insiders are taking that profit directly out of your pocket.
I’m not afraid to require ethical behavior from my own office. It’s past time for all elected officials to do the same.
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CONTACT: press@jbpritzkercampaign.com