Hegseth Forbids Defense Staff From Wagering on Nonpublic War Facts

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Pentagon staff and combatant commanders on October 20 to stop tying personal money to military outcomes they know about before the public does. The memo carries the subject line "Do Not Compromise Military Operations for Personal Financial Gain." CBS News published its contents on October 22.

The prohibition reaches every financial platform, including Polymarket and Kalshi, and applies to classified and unclassified information alike. It was addressed to senior Pentagon leaders, heads of Combatant Commands, and directors of Defense Department field activities.

Hegseth wrote that hostile intelligence services can aggregate, correlate and exploit any transaction tied to a military outcome. "They create a signal," he said of service members, intelligence professionals and department civilians who place such bets, adding that the signal can point to American movements, targets and timing. "The lives of our Service members often depend on the enemy not knowing what is coming," the memo said.

The directive follows an April case in which a US Army soldier was arrested and charged with using confidential information to place $410,000 in Polymarket bets on when the military would capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. An August report from the Anti-Corruption Data Collective identified 152 suspicious wallets that placed longshot wagers on military and defense markets, with those wallets winning $8 million combined.

Hegseth's memo also addresses commanders directly, stating that personal financial stakes in military outcomes can compromise operations and put troops at risk. Those who "carry our flag into harm's way deserve a Force that protects them" rather than one that exposes them for personal gain, he wrote.