Stop government officials from betting on war, terrorism, and assassination
Stop government officials from betting on war, terrorism, and assassination
- Thu, Apr 16 2026 at 1:32 PM
Trump’s war in Iran has been terrible for many reasons — from the loss of civilian life, to the destruction of infrastructure, to the blatant disregard for both American and international law.
But — like in so many other initiatives Donald Trump has undertaken during the past year — there’s also something else happening here. Some likely insiders are getting very, very rich.
For example: An anonymous account on online prediction website Polymarket, trading under the username “Magamyman”, made more than $553,000 by betting about Iran and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei shortly before an Israeli airstrike killed him. Rarely do invading armies seek to assassinate a nation’s leader in the course of an invasion.
We don’t know who “Magamyman” is. This person could have no connection to the president other than (if the username is any indication) being a fan. But the timing and large amount of the bet certainly looks suspicious.
And the Trump Administration isn’t doing enough to prevent people from betting on these gruesome outcomes and potentially benefitting from insider knowledge when doing so.
So it’s up to Congress to act.
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) have introduced the bill, the End Prediction Market Corruption Act (S. 4017 and H.R. 8123), that would prevent prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket from acting as gambling houses, especially on the outcomes of elections and political events.
And Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) have introduced the bill, the Banning Event Trading on Sensitive Operations and Federal Functions Act (S. 4115 and H.R. 7955), that would ban betting on government actions, terrorism, war, and assassination, especially where an individual knows or controls the outcome.
We need to encourage as many members of the House and Senate as possible to add their names as co-sponsors of these bills.
Every member of Congress should be willing to speak up against government officials enriching themselves betting on things like war and assassinations — especially if the person betting can influence the outcome.
Thank you for taking action,
George
Public Citizen
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