Trump publicly backs Kalshi and Polymarket, where son Donald Trump Jr. is a paid adviser, as his administration sues states to block their regulation

On May 27, 2026, President Donald Trump used his Truth Social platform to publicly endorse the prediction-market companies Kalshi and Polymarket, writing that the firms "will thrive" under his leadership and that his administration is "setting the rules of the road" that are "the gold standard for the States." The post inserted the president directly into an escalating fight between federal and state authorities over whether the operators — which let users wager on the outcomes of elections, economic data and other events — should be regulated as gambling. Under Trump, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has taken a deregulatory posture toward the operators, and the CFTC and Department of Justice have sued Connecticut, Arizona and Illinois, while contesting Minnesota's first-in-the-nation legislative ban, to assert that prediction markets fall under exclusive federal jurisdiction.

The endorsement is significant because of the Trump family's financial stake in the firms. Donald Trump Jr. joined Kalshi as a paid strategic adviser and later joined Polymarket's advisory board after his venture firm, 1789 Capital, made a strategic investment in the platform. Polymarket's valuation has risen roughly tenfold — to about $9.6 billion — since 1789 Capital invested, meaning that federal action favorable to the operators stands to benefit the president's immediate family directly. As NPR noted in its reporting, "any friendly decision the CFTC makes on this industry could end up financially benefiting the president's family."

The state lawsuits predate the Truth Social post: the CFTC and DOJ filed their suits against Connecticut, Arizona and Illinois on April 2, 2026, and Minnesota subsequently moved to ban the platforms outright. The May 27 endorsement is the news hook that crystallized the conflict between the president's public advocacy, his administration's litigation posture, and his family's financial interests. Because those family ties are publicly disclosed rather than hidden, the event is recorded as self-dealing and monetizing-office rather than as an undisclosed financial conflict — the president is using the powers and platform of his office in a way that advances private family interests. It is thematically related to other archive entries on family-benefit federal action.

Updates

2026-09-01 — 1789 Capital led a further $300 million investment in Polymarket, valuation reaching $21 billion [4, 5]

1789 Capital, Donald Trump Jr.'s venture firm, led a new $1 billion funding round in Polymarket, contributing about $300 million on top of its earlier roughly $200 million investment -- a combined stake of about $500 million. The round valued Polymarket at $21 billion, up 40% from its prior $15 billion valuation. Trump Jr.'s Kalshi shares and Polymarket advisory role, and his father's continued public praise of the platforms and the CFTC's litigation defending them against state regulators, are unchanged from the originating event; this is a material escalation of the family's financial stake in an industry the administration is actively protecting.