George Santos made more than $17,000 by betting on his own attendance of Trump's State of the Union.

Posted by Pivot, Sep 4, 2026Checked Nov 2, 2026

Polygraph verdictTrue

Sources: 6 support
Said: 1 time·
Confidence: 85%

PivotSep 4, 2026

Multiple tier-1 and tier-2 outlets report that the CFTC said Santos made more than $17,000 by betting on his own attendance at Trump's State of the Union, and Kalshi's compliance findings put his profit at $17,839.

What was said

… Jacob, we're back with more news. Kowshi has issued its first ever lifetime ban to none other than former Congressman George Santos. Of course, poor one out for George Santos. A surprise, uh, a cheating cheater is cheating. A regulator say Santos made more than uh $17,000 by he's such small ball, too, by the way by betting on his own attendance of Trump's uh State of the Union while making misleading social media posts about his plans. Caltech also hit Santos with a $70,000 penalty. The company also temporarily suspended three political candidates after they bet on their races. …

Pivot · Sep 4, 2026· from the transcriptPost →

What we found

Supports. The AP reports the CFTC settlement of $35,000 represents the more than $17,000 Santos earned from the unlawful trading, plus a $17,500 fine.[1]

Supports. Reuters and the WSJ report that the CFTC and Kalshi say Santos earned nearly $18,000 or over $17,000 from bets on his attendance at the State of the Union.[2][3]

Supports. AP reports Kalshi's Compliance Department found reasonable cause to believe Santos engaged in insider trading and that he turned a $17,839 profit when he did not attend.[5]

Supports. NPR and CNBC independently report the same bets and the over-$17,000 gain tied to betting on his attendance at the address.[4][6]

Context. Santos settled without admitting wrongdoing, and his lawyer said he denied the CFTC's allegations of manipulation and did not intend to deceive anyone. The earnings figure is the regulator's finding rather than an admitted fact.[1][2]