Hegseth bans Pentagon personnel from using nonpublic information to bet on military operations

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has banned Defense Department personnel from using nonpublic information to bet on U.S. military operations, according to an Oct. 20 memorandum to senior Pentagon leadership and combatant commanders. The ban covers classified and unclassified information and names the prediction markets Polymarket and Kalshi. Hegseth wrote that foreign intelligence services could analyze betting activity to anticipate American movements, targets and timing, and that such transactions could endanger troops. The memo says violations could bring administrative, disciplinary or criminal action under federal law or the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The directive follows scrutiny of service members in military-related prediction markets, including an April case involving a Special Forces soldier in the operation that captured Venezuela's leader.

Left-leaning outlets lead with the ban: CBS News, which obtained the memo, gives the most detail, and The Washington Post frames it as an insider-trading prohibition. The Hill, in the alternative group, reports the same ban and quotes the memo, crediting CBS. The right-leaning Fox article provided covers a different Hegseth announcement, a video on weapons production and procurement, and does not mention the ban.