Trump Bets on 'Maduro Arrest' Defense of US Soldier, Some Allies Support Pardon

BlockBeats News, April 26th. According to CNN, the U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against U.S. Army Special Forces soldier Gannon Ken Van Dyke, accusing him of using classified intelligence to bet on the outcome of the U.S. raid on Venezuela on the prediction market platform Polymarket, illegally profiting over $400,000. The related charges have raised concerns in the market about government officials using insider information to participate in prediction market trades.

However, former President Trump seemed to have a change in attitude towards the incident. Upon learning that the soldier had bet on Maduro's downfall, Trump immediately likened the situation to baseball legend Rose (Pete Rose) betting on his own team to win. His response seemed casual, stating, "This is like Rose betting on his own team to win. If he bet on them to lose, that would be bad, but if he bet on them to win, I will look into it." Furthermore, given Trump's support for Rose, at least some of Trump's allies have already suggested that Trump should pardon this soldier.

Prior to this, when discussing betting on events related to war, Trump mentioned that the current global situation is "a bit like a casino," implying that some market trades may have deviated from normal investment logic, relying instead on asymmetric information or even insider news. He also emphasized that he has "never been a staunch supporter of these prediction platforms."