“Please, Spare Me.” Chris Christie on Kalshi & Polymarket 2/20/26

Summary

Squawk Pod: “Please, Spare Me.” Chris Christie on Kalshi & Polymarket

Date: February 20, 2026
Host: CNBC (Joe Kernen, Andrew Ross Sorkin)
Guests: Chris Christie (Former NJ Governor, American Gaming Association Advisor), Ron DeSantis (Governor of Florida)

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Episode Overview

This episode of Squawk Pod dives into the blurred lines and intensifying debates around prediction markets, sports betting, and regulation. Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, now a strategic advisor to the American Gaming Association, takes sharp aim at prediction market firms Kalshi and Polymarket, calling out what he views as attempts to bypass established state gambling laws and avoid oversight. The show also features insights into business migration trends, tax policy, and infrastructure in Florida with Governor Ron DeSantis. Other hot topics include the Supreme Court’s impending decisions on tariffs and Federal Reserve appointments, and the potential impact of blockbuster media mergers.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Private Markets, Blue Owl, and Liquidity Crunch

Timestamps: 03:18–06:47

• Blue Owl Capital’s asset sale: Shares fell nearly 8% after news broke of a $1.4B asset sell-off and a plan to accelerate capital returns to investors. Concerns about liquidity and redemption “gates.”
• Andrew Ross Sorkin: Suggests that illiquid investment instruments should be targeted by age, limiting older investors’ exposure:

  “It seems to me that […] if you’re 60 years old, maybe you should not be allowed to be in these funds.” (05:38)

• Discussion on adapting investor expectations and the future of private credit offerings.

2. Middle East Tensions & Oil Markets

Timestamps: 06:52–08:24

• Growing speculation on U.S. military action against Iran, as President Trump signals a decision within 10 days.
• Joe Kernen:

  “There would be enough time, 10, 15 days, pretty much maximum.” (07:30)

• Markets remain jittery given potential impacts on oil supply and geopolitical stability.

3. Hollywood Consolidation Concerns

Timestamps: 08:24–10:15

• James Cameron’s Letter on Netflix-Warner Bros. Deal: Cameron predicts “massive job losses,” harm to theaters, and threats to creative autonomy.
• Andrew Ross Sorkin: (On Hollywood’s choices)

  “It’s a double-edged sword.” (10:03)

• Panel notes that Hollywood is faced with tough, lose-lose scenarios between consolidation and outsider ownership.

4. Supreme Court Watch: Trump’s Tariff Authority & Federal Reserve Firing

Timestamps: 10:25–15:41

• Awaited decisions on Trump's emergency tariffs (via IEPA) and presidential authority to dismiss Fed board members.
• Discussion on the secrecy and internal dynamics of Supreme Court decisions.
• Producer/Technical Director:

  “I want to know how many Supreme Court clerks are placing prediction market bets on this.” (14:36)

5. Spotlight: Chris Christie vs. Prediction Markets

Timestamps: 16:12–31:52

Regulatory Tensions: State vs. Federal

• Christie is highly critical of the CFTC’s push for federal oversight of prediction and gambling markets:

  “I’m confused that a Republican administration believes in greater federal regulation […] when the states are already doing a great job.” (19:08, Chris Christie)

Accusations Against Kalshi & Polymarket

• Avoiding Oversight:

  “What they’re trying to do is avoid regulation and, and avoid being taxed at the state level. Guess what? DraftKings would like to do that. FanDuel would like to do that, BetMGM would like to do that, but they’re following the law. These guys are breaking the law.” (22:15, Chris Christie)

• Christie asserts these firms are operating outside state laws, particularly in states that explicitly forbid gambling (e.g., Alabama, Georgia, Utah).

“Duck Test” Analogy

• On argument that Kalshi/Polymarket are not “the house”:

  “If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck.” (22:07, Chris Christie)

On Marketed Audience & Consumer Protection

• Alleges firms market to underage customers—unlike regulated sportsbooks which enforce a 21+ standard.
• Points out that 90% of Kalshi/Polymarket activity is sports betting, challenging their argument of being different from traditional sportsbooks.

Insider Trading & Prediction Markets

• Addresses the complexity of policing insider trading on non-financial events (e.g., sports outcomes, entertainment). Skeptical of existing surveillance claims:

  “The CFTC has no enforcement function. They have no employees right now in the enforcement area. None. Zero.” (27:12, Chris Christie)

• Warns about lack of recourse for consumers cheated by unregulated platforms.

Federal vs. State Regulatory Gaps

• Christie differentiates between sports gambling—which he says is adequately policed by states—and non-sports prediction markets, suggesting a possible federal role there if states don't act.
• Calls for equal enforcement and competitive fairness for all betting firms.

On Political Influence

• Pushes back on questions regarding Don Jr.’s advisory roles with Kalshi/Polymarket, declining to speculate on conflicts but calls for policy consistency from the administration.

Notable Quote:

“If I were king for the day, you should be very nervous.” (30:43, Chris Christie, on federal crackdown)

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6. Florida’s Wealth Migration, Taxes, and Infrastructure with Gov. Ron DeSantis

Timestamps: 34:52–44:22

Tax Policy and Relocation Trends

• Wealthy individuals and businesses, including Palantir, continue moving to Florida due to tax, business, and political climates.
• Ron DeSantis:

  “This wealth tax is having a huge impact on people fleeing to Florida… These are really, really big folks who are coming.” (35:21)

Property Tax Reform & Housing Affordability

• Seeking to phase out property tax for primary residences (homesteads); notes most property tax revenue comes from out-of-state owners.
• Addresses housing costs, “elite” school preferences among new arrivals, and the natural cyclical corrections in real estate:

  “I do think that that will moderate and I do think you’ll see a correction… not something that we can do from government.” (40:54, DeSantis)

Infrastructure & Growth Pressures

• Recent and ongoing efforts to accelerate infrastructure to accommodate population influx.
• Constraints in major metro areas like Miami but some regional success farther north.

AI and Child Protection

• DeSantis unveils Florida’s “AI Bill of Rights,” emphasizing parental and youth protections around technology:

  “Our Bill of Rights is basically protecting young people, protecting parents, providing transparency… There’s not a single thing in that Bill of Rights that is going to stymie any type of legitimate innovation.” (42:50, DeSantis)

On Prediction Markets in Florida

• The intersection of Seminole tribe gaming exclusivity and new prediction market platforms is still being addressed:

  “We’re kind of trying to get our mind around that.” (44:31, DeSantis)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Chris Christie (on regulation avoidance):

  “Please, spare me.” (22:15)

• Joe Kernen (on prediction markets and the Supreme Court):

  “I just think it’s kind of cool that the Supreme Court, of all the institutions… still… there’s still something about it. And those robes and the mystery…” (13:22)

• James Cameron (via letter, summarized):

  Warns that a Netflix-Warner Bros. deal would “lead to massive job losses and decimate the movie theater business.” (08:24)

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Additional Timestamps for Key Segments

• Blue Owl/Private Markets: 03:18–06:47
• Middle East/Iran: 06:52–08:24
• Hollywood M&A: 08:24–10:15
• Supreme Court Watch: 10:25–15:41
• Chris Christie Segment: 16:12–31:52
• Ron DeSantis Florida Focus: 34:52–44:22

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Tone & Language

• Chris Christie: Direct, combative, seasoned political operator defending state law and “fairness.”
• Hosts: Analytical, playful at times, with technical and financial nuance.
• Ron DeSantis: Policy-focused, pragmatic, delivers talking points with an eye toward business and family interests.

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Conclusion

This episode provides a lively, multifaceted discussion on the rapidly evolving overlap of finance, gambling, state-federal dynamics, and public policy. Chris Christie fiercely advocates for strong, state-level gambling oversight, framing prediction markets as a regulatory end-run. Governor DeSantis weighs in on Florida’s surging business appeal and the policy responses to affordability challenges. Throughout, the episode’s candid debate and high-level expertise offer deep insight for anyone tracking finance, regulation, and American political economy.

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Transcript

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[Recovery Advocate]

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[Cameron Costa]

When we learn the power of hope, recovery is possible. Find out [e-mail] brought to you by the National Council for Mental well Being, Shatterproof and the Ad Council.

[Ron DeSantis]

Bring in show music please.

[Cameron Costa]

This is Squawk Pod and I'm CNBC producer Cameron Costa. On today's episode, the Supreme Court is set to decide on President Trump's authority to enact tariffs. The US Is poised for a potential attack on Iran. Private credit stocks are sliding and Hollywood giant James Cameron is weighing in on the Warner Brothers discovery deal that we cannot stop talking about.

[Joe Kernen]

What do you call that when it's both options are really bad for Hollywood?

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

It's a double edged sword.

[Joe Kernen]

No, it's worse.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Conundrum.

[Joe Kernen]

Conundrum. It's a lose lose. They don't like Netflix or the Ellison.

[Cameron Costa]

Plus, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is now a strategic advisor to the American Gaming association and he's taking aim at Kalshi and polymarket, both of which are firm on the distinction between sports betting and prediction markets.

[Chris Christie]

Please spare me. What they're trying to do is avoid regulation and avoid being taxed at the state level. Guess what? DraftKings would like to do that. Fandom would like to do that bet. MGM would like to do that. But they're following the law. These guys are breaking the law.

[Cameron Costa]

And Palantir is joining the wave of companies and wealthy people who are moving to Florida. The software giant is once again moving its HQ. It swapped Palo Alto for Denver back in 2020 and now it's headed to Miami. Sitting governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis on the tax driven influx of new residents.

[Ron DeSantis]

I saw you in California and I will tell you this wealth tax is having a huge impact on people fleeing to Florida. You know, six months ago everyone was talking about Mandami causing New York to flee. I don't know that we've really seen that. But on this California thing, these are really, really big folks.

[Cameron Costa]

It's Friday, February 20th, and Squawk Pod begins right now.

[Producer/Technical Director]

Stand Andrew by in 3, 2, 1.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Good morning. Welcome to Squawk Box on this Friday morning right here on cnbc. We are live at the NASDAQ marketsite in Times Square. I'm Andrew Sorkin along with Joe Kernan. Becky is still off today, but we're not. We're here and we're still going.

[Joe Kernen]

We're watching shares of private capital manager Blue Owl. They fell close to 8% yesterday. The company said it had sold $1.4 billion in assets from several funds and would return some cash to investors. Blue also saying it's going to prevent investors in the fund from withdrawing money every quarter. Shares of private equity firms losing ground yesterday, as you can see pretty significantly. In a statement, Blue out said, contrary though to what has been reported by some, we're not halting investor liquidity in OBD C2. In fact, we're accelerating the return of capital. This asset sale will return 30% of OBDC to investors capital at book value to shareholders equally on a pro rata basis instead of resuming a 5% a quarter tender. We're only tendering investors. They get a small portion of the capital back. We're returning six times as much capital and returning it to all shareholders over the next 45 days. That's their statement in the coming quarters. We will continue to pursue this plan to return capital to the OBDC to investors.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

We just had the president and the CEO rather of Blue Hour two weeks ago and he said everything is hunky dory in the universe. And of course, everything is not hunky.

[Joe Kernen]

Door happen quickly or it can be whistling past the graveyard.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Yeah, I have a solution, by the way. I want to propose to you not about watches. Oh, well, we'll talk about the watches in a moment. No, on this, it's out of my price range. The these semi liquid, what they call semi liquid instruments where basically you can buy it on any day, but you basically can't necessarily sell it on any given day.

[Joe Kernen]

Right.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

And they can put these gates up if they want, which by the way is supposed to be a feature and not a bug of the program.

[Joe Kernen]

Right.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

I think that they should only be offered in almost like a target dated approach to investors. So if you are 20 years old, 30 years old, 40 years old, it may very well be that you can live without the money on the other end.

[Joe Kernen]

Right.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

And this is actually on a long term basis a great way to do it.

[Joe Kernen]

Right.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

It seems to me that if you maybe you're 50 years old or 60 years old or 70 years old.

[Joe Kernen]

I don't like where you're going now with this.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

80 years old. Start with 80, start with 80.

[Joe Kernen]

But no, because you might only live to 95.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Let's say you're 60 years old. Maybe you should not be allowed to be in these funds.

[Chris Christie]

Right.

[Joe Kernen]

That's wow. I mean six sake we at least go 70. Well you could get it out within five years probably. Right, right.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Well that's the question. Can you. And whether. And this is the whole issue about these semi liquid and a lot of

[Joe Kernen]

different instruments like that. There are many, even life insurance, some universal life doesn't really help that much until.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

But, but most people aren't buying. I mean look blue out capital we're showing on the screen right now. This is not a semi liquid instrument, be clear. But some of these funds that are underneath like obesity are the night. And so the question is if this is the future by the way of we're going to allow these private either credit instruments or private equity instruments or real estate instruments or other kinds of instruments that are that look like they

[Joe Kernen]

got to get used to the illiquidity.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

We got to get used to the liquidity. And the question is how should you live with that? And I think it's about a target dated approach anyway. That's my thought of the morning.

[Joe Kernen]

Well, you could, you know, you've got a future in finance.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Thank you. Sticking with private credit. This morning some new reports, this one coming from Bloomberg saying that bank of America is going to use $25 billion of its own money on deals with agreements originating in BB's capital markets division. The report says the bank of America tapped new leaders for the private credit drive. So the space is still heating up. Meantime, oil prices in focus. We got to tell you about where things are happening or what's happening now with with some of the increased tension in the Middle East. President Trump saying he's going to decide in the next 10 days whether to launch military strikes against Iran. We're either going to get a deal

[Joe Kernen]

or it's going to be unfortunate for them. I would think there would be enough time, 10, 15 days, pretty much maximum.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

That was President Trump on Air Force One yesterday. The US has been building a major military presence in the Middle East. An aircraft carrier already in the region with a second one on the way. The Wall Street Journal Reporting President is considering a limited strike on Iran to pressure the country to make a deal on ending nuclear enrichment. If Iran doesn't respond, the Journal says the US could launch a broader campaign.

[Joe Kernen]

Seems like Iran is taking it seriously. They're doing, you know, the leadership, they're making sure that it's dispersed in case they're doing a lot of force things in preparation for what they think is coming on our side. It seems like it's a very limited option that's being considered.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Legendary Hollywood director James Cameron now weighing in against Netflix's proposed acquisition of Warner Brothers Discovery. A letter obtained by CNBC that Cameron sent to Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee. The Titanic director said the potential deal could lead to massive job losses in Hollywood, decimate the movie theater business and affect one of America's biggest export sectors. Senator Lee chairs the chamber's subcommittee on antitrust. In response to a request for comment, Netflix pointed to its written testimony at a congressional hearing earlier this month which said under that deal Netflix would increase production investments. Separately, Reuters reporting that Netflix has what sources called ample cash and could increase its offer for Warner Brothers. At Paramount, Skydance ends up deciding to bid. And we're going to find out in literally just days how this is all going to, all is going to shake out. I think this is the weekend. It was the weekend it's here.

[Joe Kernen]

But it was weird when it was announced. Some of the people that said they weren't as concerned about Netflix, I can't remember, I think even Adam Aaron may have said that he remember I don't think he said that it would be the end of the, of amc. So some people, it seems like the knee jerk take would be the James Cameron take that it'd be bad for the movie business. Unfortunately Hollywood was faced with, you know, Netflix or you know, the Ellisons, which is for people in Hollywood. Anyone that you know doesn't think Trump is Satan is they don't want him running. Okay, so what do you call that when it's both options are really bad for Hollywood?

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

It's a double edged sword.

[Joe Kernen]

No, it's worse.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Conundrum.

[Joe Kernen]

Conundrum. It's a lose lose for they don't like Netflix or the Ellison's.

[Kalshi CEO (Tarek Mansour)]

Oh yeah.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

No, they would much prefer just to keep all these things separate. That would be the better path from a creative perspective probably

[Joe Kernen]

in the Supreme Court could rule as soon as today on President Trump's authority to impose tariffs. And Eamon Javers joins us now with more. There's been so many tea leaves to read as the Supreme Court had a chance how many times previous to this, Eamon? We were waiting and they didn't. And a lot of people thought, because of the urgency that everyone said around the decision, everyone thought that, that they would do it much sooner. But it's a mystery. It's a mystery. The Supreme Court.

[Producer/Technical Director]

Everyone did think that, Joe.

[Joe Kernen]

They like that, though, don't they? It's a mystery. It's impossible to figure out the judicial flex, is it?

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Yeah.

[Joe Kernen]

So what do you think?

[Producer/Technical Director]

Today's the day that's the power.

[Joe Kernen]

Yeah.

[Producer/Technical Director]

I don't know. We've been through this drill a few times now already. In 2026, as you say, Joe, the Supreme Court announces a decision day, but we just don't know what cases are going to be decided until the notices start coming out at 10am Eastern time. So it's possible that we'll get a ruling on the legality of President Trump's Liberation Day tariffs this morning or a ruling on whether the president can fire Lisa Cook from the board of the Federal Reserve. But there's just no guarantee. So let's start with tariffs. There are literal billions of dollars at stake in the decision on whether the president's use of the International Emergency Economic Powers act would, which people in Washington call IEPA for short, was appropriate because that statute authorizes a president to regulate international commerce in an emergency, but does not mention tax or tariff power. Now, the decision won't affect all the tariffs that President Trump put in place last year because he used other authorities to impose some of those tariffs. But of the $293 billion in total tariff revenue collected in 2025 and 2026 so far, 133 billion of that was collected under IPA. And that money would presumably have to be paid back to the American companies that it was collected from if President Trump loses this case. And then there's also the question of the president's attempt to fire Lisa Cook as a member of the board of the Fed. At some point. At some point, the Supreme Court is expected to weigh in on whether the president has has the authority to fire her based on unproven allegations of mortgage fraud in her personal residence. The question will come down to what the definition should be of a for cause firing. Does that have to be adjudicated wrongdoing? Or can mere allegations, even a president's whim, be enough to have the president have the authority to fire her? The way the Supreme Court decides on that could alter the future of Federal Reserve independence from the political system. So we're Going to have to watch all of this and maybe we'll be all dressed up with no place to go again. Or maybe not. Could be a big news day, guys.

[Joe Kernen]

We should always be prepared. But as I said, there are so many different ways to read the tea leaves. Some people said, well, you know, Chief Justice Roberts realizes all the ramifications and they're trying to thread some type of needle and it's taking a longer time to figure out how to have some type of narrow or more narrow ruling than just a thumbs up or a thumbs down on the tariffs. And then the prediction markets move around based on how long it's taking and the odds of. I think at one point it was 90% from the questions that the justices had asked. I think it was 90% that it was going to be against. And then it takes a while and it goes to, you know, that drops to 75%, but nobody knows. I just think it's kind of cool that the Supreme Court, of all the institutions is still, you know, I know it's maybe not as revered, people say, as before in public opinion, but there's still something about it. And those robes and the mystery and we just can't.

[Producer/Technical Director]

Eamon, there's no cameras in there.

[Chris Christie]

Yeah.

[Joe Kernen]

And there's no, there's no, we can't explain why. It's taking a long time. It just is. It's, it's a mystery. It's a mystery.

[Producer/Technical Director]

I want to know how many Supreme Court clerks are placing prediction market bets on this. Right. I mean, how many insiders know the answer to this and are already betting? Look, I mean, I'm not a Supreme Court clerk. I couldn't even begin to tell you the inner workings of the Supreme Court. My guess, and just a guess, is that the fact that the tariff ruling is taking so long, despite the urgency, despite the fact that companies are still paying billions, you know, every month on this, is that they're trying to build some sort of coalition behind the scenes.

[Joe Kernen]

I don't think try to get nine.

[Producer/Technical Director]

Legal research and reasoning. Yeah, I don't think the legal research and reasoning takes that long. I think coalition building and getting everybody on board probably does.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Amen. So people talk about trying to get to nine. Oh, maybe Justice Roberts is trying to, you know, bring everybody together on this. The other view, though, is that there's a dissenter, or maybe more than one dissenter, and that they were just taking their, taking their sweet time trying to write that dissent and for whatever reason want to keep it going. What do you think of that perspective.

[Producer/Technical Director]

I mean, it could be, it could be 12 angry men behind the scenes in the Supreme Court and we would have no idea.

[Chris Christie]

Right.

[Joe Kernen]

Right. Or, I mean, it makes sense to me. If you can, if you can decide on a complete embargo, why can't you decide on a 10% tariff? I mean, there are times you need to have that authority as the chief executive. Maybe they, maybe they are sympathetic to that argument even.

[Chris Christie]

Thanks.

[Producer/Technical Director]

Tease will be next.

[Cameron Costa]

Next up on Squawk Pod, we're digging into prediction markets, gambling markets, and the regulation for both with former New Jersey governor Chris Christie.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

They would say that, that they are not the house. There is no house.

[Chris Christie]

Yes, there is. They're taking it. They're taking a cut. It's the same thing. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck. You telling me that betting on how

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

many, that's the position that they are, which is ridiculous.

[Chris Christie]

Position.

[Joe Kernen]

Position.

[Cameron Costa]

These days, Christie is a strategic advisor to the American Gaming association, and he's coming up right after this break.

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[Chris Christie]

Simple.

[Recovery Advocate]

Substance use disorder and addiction is so isolating. And so as a black woman in recovery, hope must be loud. It grows louder when you ask for help and you're vulnerable. It is the thread that lets you know that no matter what happens, you will be okay.

[Cameron Costa]

When we learn the power of hope, recovery is possible. Find out [e-mail] brought to you by the National Council for Mental well Being, Shatterproof and the Ad Council. Welcome back to Squawkpod with Joe Kernan and Andrew Rossorkin.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

The CFTC filing an amicus brief earlier this week defending its right to regulate prediction markets. In a Wall Street Journal op ed, chair Michael Sella criticizing state's legal attacks on the agency's authority Joining us right now is former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. He's been outspoken on the rights of states to regulate sports gambling and currently is advising the American Gaming Association. And a quick disclosure, we should tell you that CNBC and Kalsi have a commercial relationship with. That includes CNBC having a minority investment in that company. And of course we run lots of different Kalshee. Yeah, we do data on our screen and discuss it as we do others. But. Good morning.

[Chris Christie]

Good morning.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

You in quite, quite some time.

[Chris Christie]

Good to see Andrew.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

So to help us understand sort of where you land on this debate, this idea between the federal sort of umbrella over the country versus what states should be allowed to do in this context,

[Chris Christie]

you know, I'm confused that a Republican administration believes in greater federal regulation, greater federal oversight and overreach when the states are already doing a great job at what's happening. You have 40 states that have legalized gaming across the country. They set up their own regulatory schemes, their own taxing schemes, their own schemes to protect consumers and the integrity of the game. And it's working across the entire country. Now all of a sudden the CFTC wants to come in and become the National Gaming Board.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Right.

[Chris Christie]

How about if they focus on what they're supposed to be focusing on, which is things like derivatives in the agriculture sector and the things that they've been doing all along. Instead now they want to become. Why? Because there's any problem. You don't hear any problem across the country from anybody.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

So what do you think is driving this? Look, lobbying money? Well, it is.

[Chris Christie]

I. Look, I think there's lobbying money involved. I think what Kalshee, Polymarket, some of the other companies have is a huge amount of cash and they're spending that cash, as you can tell on advertising, but also they're spending that Money in Washington D.C. look, we fought for this. You know, this is a fight that I started in 2012 to allow states to make the decision of whether to have sports gambling or not. It was a six year fight to finally get the Supreme Court to do it. When they said we could do it, they said this was a states rights issue. States went out, made the decision. What's going on with Kaushi and Polymarket now is they're violating laws in all 50 states. In the 40 states that have gambling, they say if you want to offer gambling to folks, come and get regulated and licensed and do what you need to do inside the state. For the 10 who don't want it, they're going over the top and say we're going to give it to you anyway. So in a state, for instance, like Alabama, a state like Georgia, who said, we don't want it, Utah, we don't want it, they're saying, too bad, you're going to get it anyway.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Have you seen all those states have not filed suits so yet.

[Chris Christie]

Not all, but it's coming.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

It's coming.

[Chris Christie]

It's coming because, and look, it's stupid when you know, the head of the CFTC gets, gets on and challenges the nation's governors and says, you'll bring it on, we'll see in court. I mean, does he really want 50 states to be filing?

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Do you think about this in the context just of sports, sports gambling, or do you think of this in the context of, you know, basically being able to quote, unquote, bet on who's going to be elected or do you put them in the same category?

[Chris Christie]

No, not my issue.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Why is that not your issue? Because part of what's happening here, states

[Chris Christie]

are not doing that. Look, Andrew, when we're really clear about this, I have nothing against Kaushi or polymarket. If they want to offer sports gambling, fine, then come into New Jersey, come into Iowa, come into any of the states that have it. Register, get licensed.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

They would pay your tax, say they're not in the gambling business.

[Chris Christie]

Come on. So, so now I heard this the other day.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

So just from a technical, I'm projected they would say that. That they are not the house. There is no house.

[Chris Christie]

Yes, there is. They're taking it. They're taking a cut. It's the same thing. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck. You telling me that betting on how many?

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

That's the position that they are.

[Chris Christie]

Which is ridiculous. Position. On opening day in baseball season this year, Yankee fans are going to be able to go on Koshy and Polymarket and bet the over under and how many strikeouts the opening day pitch drop? That's a derivative. You're a business network. That's a derivative. It's not. It's a sports bet. And that's fine if they want to be in that business. And by the way, it's 90% of their revenue is sports betting. 90%. So please spare me. What they're trying to do is avoid regulation and, and avoid being taxed at the state level. Guess what? DraftKings would like to do that. Fanta would like to do that bet. MGM would like to do that, but they're following the law. These guys are breaking just Just to

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

put it out there again, you are, though, being paid by the Gaming association, which represents the interests of those who have already followed the state path.

[Chris Christie]

Absolutely. But let me say this. I'm also the one who fought to create this entire industry.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

No, no, you don't. You have an authentic claim on it.

[Chris Christie]

So, you know, my, my, my goal in this is to allow the states to have the rights I fought for them to have, and they have those rights. And by the way, if there was a horrible bunch of stuff going on where the states were proving they could not regulate this appropriately, then I can understand why the feds would want to come in. There is no excuse for the federal government to come in. And how are we having a Republican administration who says they're for deregulation now decide they want to become the National Gaming Board?

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Let me ask you a related question to that, which is that Eric Trump happens to be the son of the president, happens to be an advisor to both polymarket.

[Chris Christie]

Is it Eric, I thought was Donald.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

I'm sorry, Don Jr. I apologize. Don Jr. Happens to be an advisor to both Polymarket and, and to Kalski. Does that present a problem to you?

[Chris Christie]

Look, I'm not going to be here this morning to discuss the various personal conflicts that the President's family has with federal regulation. It is what it is. They're doing it. And whether, I would hope, I would hope that that does not have an influence on the chairman of the cftc. But everyone can take a look at it and make their own judgment. I think this is.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

What is your position here? You are saying the administration is doing the wrong thing, and that's why I'm asking you.

[Chris Christie]

But Andrew, I can't read their mind right. Because all I know is it's inconsistent with what the President has said he wants to do, which is to deregulate, get the government out. He just did some big things at the epa, which I agree with in terms of deregulation. So why are we being inconsistent on this point? Well, by the way, so everyone else can read.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

There's an effort right now to, and we can go to a different topic, but to AI, which is there's a view that the government, this administration believes there should be federal, federal regulations over AI while the states want to regulate it.

[Chris Christie]

But here's, here's the difference I would argue on that, is that there is not right now an existing regime of AI regulation in the states. You have eight years of experience of the states regulating sports gambling and doing it in a way that makes it completely effective. Protects the consumer taste something else that Kalshee and Polymarket are doing in the sports area. They're marketing to teenagers. They're marketing to teenagers in every one of the states with a sports gambling. You cannot market to or take bets from anyone under the age of 21. You want to go on Kaushi and Polymarket at 18, 19 years old and do this? You can. That's not protection of the consumer.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

The states are protecting me. Ask you a separate question. I want to show you a video. We did an interview with the CEO of Kalsheet.

[Chris Christie]

Oh, I saw it.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Okay. And this is, this is a different topic.

[Joe Kernen]

You watch every day.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

This I do. This is a question about how we should think about the concept of insider trading. You were a prosecutor in your life.

[Chris Christie]

I was.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

I want you to listen to. This is the CEO of Cal.

[Chris Christie]

Understand it any better than when I watched it the first time because it was. It was absolutely impossible to understand what the hell he was talking about.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Hang on, let me show you. Let me show you the tape. We asked him about how we think about trading rights in the context of being able to bet on anything. Take a look.

[Kalshi CEO (Tarek Mansour)]

As a regulated financial market by the cftc, we have the same rules as the NASDAQ and the nyse and we have the same mechanism of enforcement. We know who the customers are when they onboard to Kalshi, like when you're on board to a brokerage. We know their name, their address, their Social Security, oftentimes their id. We know exactly who they are. And then, you know, we detect. We have systems that detect any weird patterns of suspicious trades, just like the NASDAQ does. Then it goes to surveillance. We have an investigation staff that runs an investigation and checks who was behind the trade and what they were doing. And if they were doing something wrong and there was insider trading, the punishment goes from fines to referral to the CFTC for criminal prosecution. So the same exact rules, same exact mechanism. And actually just last week we beefed up our mechanism of surveillance.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Okay, so you just, you were laughing while this was on.

[Chris Christie]

Well, what. The SEC has very clear rules on this and material nonpublic information. What's the material nonpublic information in this? How do they don't define it? The CFTC doesn't define it. The CFTC has no enforcement function. They have no employees right now in the enforcement area. None. Zero. So who's doing this exactly? We're counting on that guy that you just saw on the screen to be the arbiter I mean, this is the same place where there were bets being made on when Maduro would be captured. And someone won 400 grand on that. How did they know that?

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Well, so, and that's my question to you, which is, do you believe that there should be a completely different legal scheme to deal with this? Which is to say the example we were using, because it was just, we had done that interview, I think, right after the super bowl was, you know, what was going to be the opening song that Bad, Bad Bunny was going to perform. And the question was, if you happen to be a dancer or maybe a camera person who had seen the rehearsal of it two hours earlier, you knew exactly what was going to happen. And if you had bet on it, did you have any kind of fiduciary duty to anybody? And how should this work?

[Chris Christie]

And by the way, the answer to your macro question is he couldn't answer that. But you asked him and he couldn't answer.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

What do you think the answer should be?

[Chris Christie]

Well, look, I think if the federal government wants to get into regulating those kind of wagers or as they call them, investments, seriously, a bet is now an investment. But let's put that aside. They want to get into that. The states have. The states are not involved in that. My problem with this is you have 40 states now regulating this effectively to protect the integrity of the game, to protect the consumer and to let's take a state like Tennessee, Andrew, Sports gambling revenue funds their entire school choice program and that revenue is now going down because Kalshee Polymarket and the predictive markets folks are taking revenue away and refusing to pay taxes in the state of Tennessee. This is a huge accomplishment by Governor Lee to get a full public school choice program out there. And now it's being diminished because these guys don't want to play by the same rules. You know, the head of the CFTC was on your was on or put a video out that was played on your network. That said, I want to eliminate the predictive markets. It's absolutely wrong if the predictive markets, Kalshee Polymarket want to come into New Jersey, register, get licensed and compete in sports gaming, bring it on. And if their product is better than the other team folks that are already in there, then they'll win. I'm fine with that competition.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

But how do you feel more broadly about this idea that we could could effectively bet invest whatever word you want to use? Well, they want to invest on anything. On anything. And whether there should be fiduciary duties that are different, whether insider Trading is real. Whether of course it is. No, I know, but the issue is, if you were to bet on what color ties Joe and I are going to wear every morning, it is possible that the security folks here see what tie we're wearing before the show begins, could lay the bet down and they could lay the bet down. Would that be illegal for them to lay the bet down under.

[Chris Christie]

Under the COVID current laws, as I understand them? The answer is no, because there's nothing that covers this.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Right.

[Chris Christie]

All right. And I think the states are saying we have no interest in that. We're dealing with sports gambling. So if the feds want to come in and you do, what would I do if it were. Look, if it were me, I came

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

for the day, what do you think should happen to this whole market?

[Chris Christie]

You should be very nervous. If I were king for the day, you should be very nervous.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Ran for president.

[Chris Christie]

But if I were. Look, then I think the federal government, no kings, should come and fill that space and set up rules and give the CFTC the enforcement authority to be able to do that. They don't need to do it on sports gambling. It's already being done by the states and done effectively. Now they want to fill that other space. I don't care. Doesn't matter to me. I do think that people are going to become victimized in this marketplace. And if there are no rules and no enforcement mechanism, that's. And by the way, if you talk to people who are betting in the 40 states and I, I know I place wagers, I know Joe places wagers. You know, if you ask them, if you bet on polymarket or Couch Sheet and you get screwed by them, can you go to your state regulator? 78% of the people who answered said yes. And the answer is they can't because the folks have no enforcement against them. This is an unnecessary overreach by the federal government and every state should be out there suing in state court to stop it.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Chris Christie, thank you very, very much for this conversation. And we look forward to having the CEO of that on whether Cowshi and Polymarket on the show to, to respond and talk about.

[Joe Kernen]

He ever have another Republican governor, I'd like to bet on that. I think that's.

[Chris Christie]

Let me tell you, you know what, you know, we can have another one, but we have to run races in a way where we can win. And what I was just in Morris County, New Jersey last night talking to them about winning again. And you know, you don't win in New Jersey by playing national politics.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Governor, they're playing us out. It's nice to see you.

[Chris Christie]

Well, nice to see you, Andrew.

[Cameron Costa]

You can actually listen to the rest of our interview with Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansource on your Squawk Pod feed. If you just scroll down to February 10th, you'll see it. We even have helpful notes in the description that give you time codes for when each interview starts. Still to come on this squawk pod, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on his state's appeal to the wealthy and to business owners what an influx of new residents might mean for everyday affordability.

[Ron DeSantis]

I think most people look at the housing market now and they're just not as many buyers as there were three or four years ago. I think it's true nationwide, but certainly in Florida. So I do think that that will moderate and I do think you'll see. You'll see a correction.

[Cameron Costa]

We'll be right back.

[Schwab Announcer]

Trading at Schwab is powered by Ameritrade, giving you even more specialized support than ever before, like access to the trade desk. Our team of passionate traders ready to tackle anything from the most complex trading questions to a simple strategy. Gut check. Need assistance? No problem. Get 24. 7 professional answers and live help and access support by phone, email and in platform chat. That's how Schwab is here for you to help you trade brilliantly. Learn [e-mail] trading department of rejected dreams

[Cameron Costa]

if you had a dream, rejected IKEA can make it possible.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

So I always dreamed of having a

[Ron DeSantis]

man cave, but the wife doesn't like it.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

What if I called it a woman cave?

[Cameron Costa]

Okay, so let's not do that, but add some relaxing lighting and a comfy IKEA hofburg ottoman. And now it's a cozy retreat.

[Chris Christie]

Nice. A cozy retreat, man.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Cozy retreat, sir.

[Cameron Costa]

Okay. Find your big dreams, small dreams and cozy retreat dreams in store or online at ikea.us dream the possibilities substance use

[Recovery Advocate]

disorder and addiction is so isolating. And so as a black woman in recovery, hope must be loud. It grows louder when you ask for help and you're vulnerable. It is the thread that lets you know that no matter what happens, you will be okay.

[Cameron Costa]

When we learn the power of hope, recovery is possible. Find out how. @startwithhope.com brought to you by the National Council for Mental well Being Shatterproof and the Ad Council. This is Squawkpod.

[Joe Kernen]

You're watching Squawk Box on cnbc. I'm Joe Kernan along with Andrew Ross Sorkin. You can add Palantir now to the list of Businesses and billionaires who are relocating to Florida. The AI Titan joins a long list of others who started a footprint in the business friendly state, including Ken Griffin, Citadel, or Ken Griffin's Citadel, Amazon, Apple, others join US Now, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Governor, it's good to see you. Thanks for joining us.

[Ron DeSantis]

Yeah, look, we've got a lot going on in Florida and you mentioned Ken Griffin who had moved Citadel, you know, a few years ago. Obviously that is a big economic impact for a state. I mean, these are high paying jobs. The footprint has really expanded. But one thing people don't talk about, and I can say certainly for Ken, he's donated in terms of philanthropic efforts, I mean, hundreds of millions, maybe even billions of dollars already in Florida. And obviously he probably would have been doing that in Illinois had he not done that. So there's a big ripple effect that happens with all of this. Joe, I saw you in California and I will tell you this wealth tax is having a huge impact on people fleeing to Florida. You know, six months ago everyone was talking about Mandami causing New York to flee. I don't know that we've really seen that. But on this California thing, these are really, really big folks who are coming to Florida. We'll see whether they decide to move some business here. But I think they're in a situation where this has already either been taxed or it's an unrealized gain. It's a horrible tax policy to basically just see some of the wealth. And then the founders of these companies, the way this provision is, they're imputed their voting rights as if they have equity. So for some of these big companies like Google, that's hundreds of billions of dollars that the founders don't actually own. And I think there's a sense of, hey, this is a ballot initiative, 50% plus one shouldn't be able to just vote and take away some of your property. Certainly our founding fathers didn't want to do that. So when I've talked to people, maybe it gets on the ballot, maybe it does it, maybe it passes, maybe it doesn't. But eventually something's going to get on the ballot and something's going to pass. And so I think people are, are taking action accordingly.

[Joe Kernen]

It's safe to say you're one of Mamdani's biggest fans, I guess.

[Ron DeSantis]

Well, you know, I think we're going to see, I think. Well, I don't think that that is, that story has been written yet, but I do think we're going to see an impact on That I think it'll take a little longer. I think the California impact was very sudden at the end of last year because people saw the writing on the wall and you saw a lot of big names noticeably, you know, getting a foothold in Florida.

[Joe Kernen]

I mean, he's talking property taxes now. If he can't get some other tax increase from, from the governor, what are you doing with property taxes? You're, you're going to phase them out completely?

[Ron DeSantis]

Well, first of all, didn't he run on affordability? How is it more affordable to raise property taxes on working class people? I just don't understand that. So, so what we're working through and we got to work with the Florida legislature is phasing out the property tax for Florida residents and their primary, what we call a homesteaded property. And the way it works in Florida is that's about a third of all the property tax revenue because, you know, these local governments are taxing investment properties, snowbirds, second, third, homes, businesses, all those other things. And so the context of this is in 2019, local governments in Florida brought in 32 billion in property tax revenue. Now they're bringing in $60 billion. So if you go back to that 2019 level of spending, you give them population growth, you give them the inflation, even at a couple percent a year, on top of that, you're not even close to 60 billion. So they're obviously getting a lot of this because property values have gone up. A lot of people moved to Florida, particularly during the COVID era. But people need relief. And what's happening, Joe, is you've got older people that have been in their home for a long time. They've had protection against valuation increases for, for 30 years. They're not downsizing because if they go from a three or four bedroom home to a condo, the tax basis is going to be so much higher that they can't afford it. So that hurts young people having access to be able to do it. So it needs to go on the ballot, it needs to get 60% of the vote. And we'll be working on that through the balance of the year.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Governor, you've had all this success getting all of these folks to come to Florida. That's the good news. The harder part seems to be the new challenge. You hear from folks who have moved who say it's hard to get into schools, there's all sorts of, you know, housing. Obviously the price of housing has gone up. That can be considered a good thing in certain cases for others. What, what do you see now as the biggest challenge of this success, if you will.

[Ron DeSantis]

Well, I think on some of the school stuff, I mean, that is a very, very elite problem. And since they want certain types of schools that maybe they had in New York City or whatever, we've got a lot of very good schools, charter schools, public schools, and even traditional private. I think they're looking at things that are a little different than what the typical family would do. And people are starting to build those, you know, at that level to kind of attract the talent. And I think that'll all work itself out. You know, on the housing, I'm a big believer in, you know, we shouldn't be trying to juice the housing market. We shouldn't be doing it. These things go in cycles. And I think what happened was during COVID there was a massive rush in Florida. You know, you could sell a three bedroom house in Newport Beach, California for two or three million dollars and you could get three times the size of that in like a Sarasota. Well, those that caused these values to go up, these things kind of go up and down. I think most people look at the housing market now and there's just not as many buyers as there were three or four years ago. I think it's true nationwide, but certainly in Florida. So I do think that that will moderate and I do think you'll see, you'll see a correction, but it needs to be done naturally. And it's not something that we can do from government.

[Joe Kernen]

We're going to talk. AI, we'll talk about your bill of Rights. My idea, just, just as an aside, and I was in Miami, went up to Jupiter and I can't take the lights, Governor. I can't take the traffic lights. I can't take them. I can't take them anymore. I was, I was like, there's six lanes everywhere on, all around. And first you got it. They got to turn left, then they got to turn left and they got to turn left and they got. And sometimes it just seems like nothing is synchronized. Can you. Is AI a possibility or do I just have to realize there's a lot of people that like to be in a state with no income. It's crowded. Is that. I think, yeah, I mean, I think,

[Ron DeSantis]

I think there's a couple of things. So, you know, I did like 6 or 7 billion dollars of accelerated infrastructure because we saw the people coming and it's like some of these projects needed to be done. They weren't even scheduled to start till next decade. So we accelerate them. We're going to be able to deliver a lot, five, 10, even 15 years ahead of schedule. Now, Miami, Fort Lauderdale is still tough because it's, it's basically all built out. And so to be able, you really can't build a beltway. You really can't build. You can maybe do double decker. Some people talking about doing tunnels and things like that, but those are not easy solutions. So if there is technology, you know, that can help it, you know, that obviously something that I would be involved that I'd be interested in in a lot of other parts of the state. Once you get north of West Palm beach, you know, we've had success in being able to do things like on i4 near Disney, to be able to widen that, increase the flow. But some of this is just to keep our head above water because we've had so many visitors over the years. We just set another tourism record in 2025. And obviously the population has grown over

[Joe Kernen]

the last few years, leading to the idea of an AI Bill of Rights to protect kids we talked earlier about. I mean, kids are getting it from all sides at this point. I don't, I don't know what we do, but this is probably one part of a solution.

[Ron DeSantis]

Yeah, look, I mean, you know, technology is great, but it needs to be harnessed in a way that is going to be beneficial for Americans. It's going to reinforce our values as Floridians and Americans. And that requires a framework. And so when I have a mom like we have in central Florida, whose son committed suicide, you know, in part because of an AI chatbot and the relationship that was developed there and things the chat bot were telling the teen, who's a very vulnerable teen, you know, that's a big, big problem. When I have moms who had teens where they would have sexually charged discussions with an AI chat bot, is that really the society that we want to have? And I think we look at the social media era, there were probably some things that could have been done to provide some guardrails that would have mitigated some of the damage we've seen on that. So our Bill of Rights is basically protecting young people, protecting parents, providing transparency, it's all very important. But there's not a single thing in that Bill of Rights that is going to stymie any type of legitimate innovation. I mean, if we're stymieing sexually suggested chat bots, talking to 13 year olds, well, that would be a good thing. We don't want that in our society. We also want to protect ratepayers against having costs of data centers given to them, which I think we've seen in other parts of the country. And we'll be the first state, I think to lay down that marker to say, look, you got to pay your own way on this. We don't want to see our folks having to pay more for electricity.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Governor, we just had Chris Christie on the broadcast and we were talking about prediction markets and states rights in the context of gambling. And I wonder where you land on that.

[Ron DeSantis]

Well, it's interesting. This is something like really within the last year has really gotten become a big deal. So in Florida we kind of have a unique relationship with the Seminole tribe of Florida. There was things done long before I was governor, governor, governor to give them exclusive rights over gaming. They also have the exclusive rights over sports betting. And so the question is, is something like Kalshee, is that cloud clashing with the laws of the state of Florida or is it separate? It's more of a prediction. So we're kind of trying to get our get our mind around that.

[Joe Kernen]

Thank you, Governor.

[Cameron Costa]

That's the podcast for today and for the week. Thank you for listening this entire week. Squawk Box is hosted by Joe Kernan, Becky Quick and Andrew Ross Sorkin weekday mornings on cnbc starting at 6am Eastern. To get the best parts of that three hour TV show right into your ears, please follow Squawk Pod wherever you get your podcasts. We'll meet you right back here on Monday. Have a great weekend.

[Producer/Technical Director]

We are clear.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Thanks guys.

[Schwab Announcer]

Trading at Schwab is powered by Ameritrade, giving you even more specialized support than ever before, like access to the trade desk. Our team of passionate traders ready to tackle anything from the most complex trading questions to a simple strategy. Gut check. Need assistance? No problem. Get 24. 7 professional answers and live help and access support by phone, email and in platform chat. That's how Schwab is here for you to help you trade brilliantly. Learn [e-mail] trading.