Trump Says CFTC Must Maintain Prediction Market Authority, Calls Dem Pols ‘Scum’

Posted on: May 26, 2026, 08:38h. 

Last updated on: May 26, 2026, 08:38h.

Todd Shriber @etfgodfather Read More
Expertise: Financial, Gaming Business, Mergers and Acquisitions.
  • The president previously expressed ambivalence toward prediction markets
  • His son is an advisor to Kalshi and Polymarket
  • He bashed Democrat politicians standing in the way of the prediction markets industry

In a new post on his Truth Social account, President Trump said it’s vital the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) maintain its regulatory purview over prediction markets while bashing Democrat leaders that are attempting to hinder the industry.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent lottery
President Trump (foreground) said it’s crucial the CFTC oversee prediction markets while calling some Democrat politicians scum.(Image: Getty)

The president also lauded Michael Selig, whom he nominated to lead the CFTC, which is the federal regulator overseeing prediction markets, thanking him while adding he’s “doing a great job.”

It is critically important that the CFTC’s exclusive authority over Prediction Markets is maintained, and that they will thrive,” said Trump the social media platform his family controls. “Under my leadership, we are setting ‘rules of the road’ that are the Gold Standard for the States.”

He didn’t elaborate on how those rules could shape up or exactly what the “gold standard” entails.

Trump Rips Democrats Opposing Prediction Markets

President Trump also unloaded on several Democrat politicians as well as Chris Christie. Christie, formerly the Republican governor of New Jersey and previously a Trump ally, now works with the American Gaming Association (AGA), which opposes prediction markets.

“We cannot have SCUM like Chris Christie, Letitia James, Tim Walz, and JB Pritzker setting the rules! Other Countries are after this new form of Financial Market, and we want to remain at the top,” added the president.

Walz is the Democrat governor of Minnesota, which recently became the first state to ban prediction markets, inviting a lawsuit from the CFTC in the process. James, the New York attorney general who previously pursued questionable financial fraud charges against Trump, has been a vocal critic of prediction markets as well. Pritzker, the governor of Illinois, last month followed some of his Democrat colleagues in prohibiting state workers from trading on yes/no exchanges.

Trump’s post is likely to invite scrutiny because a frequently used talking point in prediction market circles is that his son, Don Jr., is an advisor to Kalshi and Polymarket and an investor in the latter.

Trump Wants US to Maintain Crypto Leadership

As the CFTC has some regulatory purview regarding cryptocurrency derivatives, Trump also mentioned the importance of the US maintain and expanding its perch as the world’s dominant digital currency hub.

“Likewise, and even more importantly, where we are currently the Crypto (Bitcoin, etc.) Capital of the World, other Countries are trying diligently to replace us in that capacity, but we won’t let that happen,” said the president in the social media post.

Cryptocurrency brokerage firms, including Coinbase Global and Gemini Space Station, are prediction markets players in the U.S.