Remember the days when you were a kid and wanted to attend a concert at the last minute without a ticket? I can recall going with some friends to see Stevie Nicks in 1982, and we found ourselves hanging around outside the venue desperately looking for a way in. That’s when we would come across a shady character, usually leaning against a lamppost with a sly look on his face and tickets in his pocket. This person was a scalper, offering to sell tickets at a steep price if you were willing to pay.
Typically, you would end up paying exorbitant amounts of money in such situations. Recently, on Monday, President Trump took action by signing an executive order targeting ticket scalpers, with the support of Kid Rock.
🚨 @POTUS is taking executive action to protect fans from exploitative ticket scalping and bring commonsense reforms to live entertainment.
The Order directs the Federal Trade Commission to:
— Work with the Attorney General to ensure that competition laws are appropriately… pic.twitter.com/KPCkJVCOdM
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 31, 2025
The post states in full:
@POTUS is taking executive action to protect fans from exploitative ticket scalping and bring commonsense reforms to live entertainment.
The Order directs the Federal Trade Commission to:
- Work with the Attorney General to ensure that competition laws are appropriately enforced in the concert and entertainment industry.
- Rigorously enforce the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act and promote its enforcement by state consumer protection authorities.
- Ensure price transparency at all stages of the ticket-purchase process, including the secondary ticketing market. — Evaluate and, if appropriate, take enforcement action to prevent unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive conduct in the secondary ticketing market.
- The Order directs the Secretary of the Treasury and Attorney General to ensure that ticket scalpers are operating in full compliance with the Internal Revenue Code and other applicable law.
- Treasury, the Department of Justice, and the FTC will also deliver a report within 180 days summarizing actions taken to address the issue of unfair practices in the live concert and entertainment industry and recommend additional regulations or legislation needed to protect consumers in this industry.
In a follow-up post from C-Span’s Howard Mortman, Kid Rock had a few words.
Kid Rock in the Oval Office with Pres. Trump … now LIVE on C-SPAN pic.twitter.com/J93vlWwVrN
— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) March 31, 2025
He said:
Regardless of your political views, it’s important to acknowledge and appreciate the swift action taken by the President. Many of us, over the past decade or even twenty years, have encountered the frustrating experience of purchasing concert tickets. The process often feels like a scam – starting with a ticket priced at a hundred dollars, only to find additional charges that inflate the total cost to $170 by the time you’re done. Not to mention, the issue of bots swooping in to snatch up all the desirable tickets.
20 years? Try nearly 50 years, Mr. Rock. Granted, ticket sales weren’t as loaded with extra charges then, but boy howdy, the scalpers were already operating, and I will admit I bought a ticket from one a time or two. In fact, were it not for a scalper, I know I wouldn’t have seen Alice Cooper in 1979.
In a humorous epilogue, a reporter asked President Trump about Kid Rock’s rather garish but patriotic choice of attire, and he replied in typical Trump fashion.
🚨 LMAO! A reporter just asked Trump if he’d wear Kid Rock’s flashy American flag jumpsuit
TRUMP: “I don’t know, I was thinking about wearing it TOMORROW! We’ve got a big day coming up.” 🤣
I’d pay to see that 😂 pic.twitter.com/aL3RzL4pGB
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) March 31, 2025
The president said in response to what sounds like Fox News’s Peter Doocy:
PETER DOOCY: Mr. President, would you ever wear a jacket like that?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I don’t know. I was thinking about doing it for tomorrow. We have a big event coming up and I was thinking about doing it.
This isn’t the most ground-breaking policy position the president has taken, but it ought to make concertgoers happy.
