President Trump is aiming to crack down on ticket resellers who charge fans exorbitant amounts more than the face value of a concert ticket, directing the Federal Trade Commission and attorney general to make sure competitive pricing laws are enforced.
Seated in the Oval Office on Monday with Kid Rock standing next to him, Mr. Trump signed the executive order, deferring to the entertainer to explain the conundrum of ticket scalpers.
“I want the fans to have fair ticket prices,” Kid Rock said. “There’s plenty of money to go around. Nobody’s going to lose here.”
According to a White House fact sheet, the order directs the FTC to also enforce the Better Online Ticket Sales Act, a 2016 law that aims to stop ticket bots from purchasing a large number of tickets and reselling them at inflated prices, and ensure there is price transparency at every stage of the ticket purchasing process.
It calls for the FTC to “take enforcement action to prevent unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive conduct in the secondary ticketing market.”
It directs the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Attorney General Pam Bondi to ensure that ticket scalpers follow the Internal Revenue Code and other laws.
A report must be delivered within 180 days describing what actions have been taken to address this issue.
“America’s live concert and entertainment industry has a total nationwide economic impact of $132.6 billion and supports 913,000 jobs. But it has become blighted by unscrupulous middlemen who impose egregious fees on fans with no benefit to artists,” the fact sheet said.
Live Nation, considered the world’s largest live entertainment company and owner of Ticketmaster, said in a statement Monday that it agreed with Mr. Trump’s order.
“Scalpers and bots prevent fans from getting tickets at the prices artists set, and we thank President Trump for taking them head-on. We support any meaningful resale reforms — including more enforcement of the BOTS act, caps on resale prices, and more,” the company said in a statement.
Former President Biden also tried targeting ticket sales during his administration.
In 2023, he convened a White House roundtable where ticket sale giants Ticketmaster and Live Nation pledged to provide consumers with full pricing upfront, ending surprise fees at checkout during online purchases.
The announcement fulfilled a pledge Mr. Biden made in his State of the Union address that year, urging the passage of a bill to prevent “junk fees” and hidden surcharges. He called on Congress to pass legislation to address excessive fees on concert, sports and entertainment tickets as well as airline fares.
Mr. Trump also signed an executive order creating an “Investment Accelerator” office within the Department of Commerce that would “facilitate and accelerate” investments above $1 billion in the U.S.
The office will also be “responsible” for the CHIPS Program Office. The CHIPS Act was a bipartisan bill under Mr. Biden that aimed to boost the production of semiconductors in the U.S. “where it will deliver the benefit of the bargain for taxpayers, negotiating much better CHIPS Act deals than the previous Administration.”
Mr. Trump has previously slammed Mr. Biden’s CHIPS Act as a “horrible thing.”
In his Oval Office remarks, Mr. Trump also gave his blessing to Tiger Woods’ romantic relationship with his former daughter-in-law Vanessa Trump. He also said that the pressure from the Russia collusion investigation contributed to her split from his son, Donald Trump Jr.
Mr. Trump said that he would have no worries squaring off against former President Obama in a 2028 election if either were allowed to seek a third term.
He also said the negotiations regarding the sale of the Chinese-owned app TikTok are not tied to any tariff deals with China, but he’s open to it.
The president said that dozens of people have come forward to throw their hat in the ring to be the next ambassador to the United Nations after Rep. Elise Stefanik, a New York Republican who pulled from consideration because of the tight GOP majority in the House.
He said some of the names that have been floated were David Friedman, who previously served as ambassador to Israel during Mr. Trump’s first term, and Ric Grenell, who has served in administration positions in the past.
“And maybe 30 other people,” he added. “Everybody loves that position. That’s a star-making position.”
