Trump says he's 'never much in favor' of prediction markets while backing CFTC oversight
President Trump said he was 'never much in favor' of prediction markets when asked about insider trading concerns on June 1, 2026. The comment came as the White House weighs an effort to block state restrictions on prediction markets in favor of exclusive federal CFTC oversight, a stance praised by both Kalshi and Polymarket. Trump remarks land while the White House reviews active CFTC matters, and while two DOJ-CFTC parallel insider trading cases against prediction market traders are proceeding—one against Google engineer Spagnuolo charged in a $1.2 million Polymarket scheme, and the DOJ-CFTC case against Van Dyke, the first such prosecution.
CFTC Chair Selig must now reconcile Trump's simultaneous demand for sole federal control and his personal skepticism of the underlying product. Any final rule text that reads as permissive risks amplifying the insider-trading exposure the DOJ is already prosecuting; any tightening contradicts the White House marching orders.
Becomes the third CFTC staff action this week to collide with Trump's public praise of Polymarket, after Selig suspended the compliance officials who flagged the platform and DOJ charged a second insider-trading defendant trading on its contracts.