Kalshi ends Trump Jr. advisory role after Polymarket clash

Prediction market giant Kalshi has terminated its consulting contract with President Donald Trump’s eldest son after his venture capital firm, 1789 Capital, made a large investment in main prediction market rival Polymarket.

“We mutually agreed to end Don’s advisory role following his company’s significant investment in a competitor last summer,” Kalshi spokesperson Dani Lever said in a statement to MS NOW, adding that the company was “grateful” for his early marketing help.

Discussions about ending Donald Trump Jr.’s advisory role at the company began in August, after 1789 Capital made a major investment in Polymarket, according to a person familiar with the decision-making process who spoke to MS NOW on background. This person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the decision.

Kalshi and Trump Jr. officials spoke about his firm’s investment and his position on Polymarket’s advisory board this fall, according to the person familiar with the process. They made the decision to end Trump Jr.’s contractual involvement after mutually concluding that his role as advisor to the two prediction market giants in a rapidly evolving industry constituted a conflict of interest.

Trump Jr. previously served on the advisory boards of Kalshi and Polymarket. He owns a large number of shares in Kalshi, while his venture capital firm, 1789 Capital, has invested heavily in Polymarket. He has publicly denied that his ties to the companies influenced the Trump administration’s aggressive support of the platforms and/or its stance in legal disputes involving the industry and many states.

Trump Jr. and 1789 Capital did not immediately respond to MS NOW’s request for comment.

In an interview on MS NOW last month, Kalshi CEO and founder Tarek Mansour acknowledged that Trump Jr.’s ties to his company were an “optics problem,” but he said the $40 billion prediction market startup never used the relationship to curry favor with federal regulators.

The Trump administration’s foreign policy decisions over the past year have highlighted the pitfalls of prediction market platforms and their potential to facilitate insider trading. Lawmakers in both chambers have sent letters to regulators and introduced a cascade of bills raising concerns about contracts tied to events involving war, violence and death.