President Trump Signs Executive Order Targeting “Explotive Ticket Scalping”

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday to curb price gouging in the live entertainment industry.

The directive instructs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to collaborate with Attorney General Pam Bondi to enforce competition laws and promote price transparency throughout the ticket-buying process.

Musician Kid Rock, a vocal Trump supporter who appeared at the Republican National Convention in July, was present at the signing in the Oval Office. Trump acknowledged that ticket scalping had not been on his radar until recently.

“I checked it out, and it is a big problem,” he admitted. He noted that Kid Rock had long voiced concerns about skyrocketing resale prices.

“It bothers him,” Trump said. “It bothers a lot of artists. They set ticket prices at $100, and the next night, they’re selling for $2,000.”

Kid Rock, whose real name is Robert James Ritchie, reinforced the urgency of the issue. “Fans deserve fair ticket prices. I want to make my tickets more affordable, but if I set them low, bots buy them up instantly and resell for hundreds more. That only enriches these bad actors.”

The executive order intensifies enforcement of the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act, a 2016 law empowering the FTC to take legal action against individuals and companies using automated software to hoard tickets and drive up resale prices. The issue reached a boiling point in 2022 during Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, when ticket resale prices soared into the tens of thousands, sparking public outrage and congressional scrutiny.

Lawmakers accused Ticketmaster, the dominant force in the ticketing industry, of operating as a monopoly. In response, the Justice Department, alongside 30 state and district attorneys general, filed an antitrust lawsuit against Ticketmaster’s parent company, Live Nation, alleging widespread market abuse that harmed concertgoers nationwide.

Live Nation responded to the executive order in a statement to CNN, supporting increased regulation of ticket resales.

“Scalpers and bots prevent fans from getting tickets at the prices artists set, and we thank President Trump for taking action. We support any meaningful reforms, including stronger enforcement of the BOTS Act, resale price caps, and stricter regulations.”

Trump’s order builds upon earlier efforts by the Biden administration to eliminate hidden fees in ticket sales. In December, then-President Joe Biden’s FTC finalized a rule banning deceptive “convenience” or “service” fees that inflate costs at checkout.

According to 2019 data from Oxford Economics, the live entertainment industry remains a powerful economic force in the U.S., generating a total nationwide impact of $132.6 billion and supporting 913,000 jobs.

With ticket prices continuing to climb, the debate over consumer protection in the industry shows no signs of slowing.