President Donald Trump is among the most polarizing figures in today’s world of politics. A divisive figure from the Republican Party, he’s birthed the MAGA movement as a whole. But some of his decisions have been an unmitigated disaster.
Chief among them has been the surprising integration between the world of politics and sports. Despite a concentrated effort by the 47th president, it hasn’t worked out well for the companies partnering with him from a fiscal standpoint.
President Donald Trump Isn’t a Sporting Expert
Over the past year, the White House has tried to directly join hands with a variety of sporting events. During the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Trump was a key figure throughout the proceedings, standing front and center when Spain was awarded the trophy.
As a result of that attention to sports, Trump has also been intricately involved in two direct events. According to SB Nation, both events led to disastrous implications for the partnering companies.
Writer James Dator called them out directly, stating, “The quest to curry favor with President Trump means flushing a whole bunch of money down the toilet.”
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The first was the UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House in direct partnership. However, it cost the company a reported $30 million loss, while its parent company, TKO, saw its Q2 profit margin drop from 59% to 52%.
Despite the financial hit, the company claimed the event was a success, citing a $1 billion return in “Earned Media Value.” However, in an extremely pointed rebuttal, Dator ripped their calculations.
“Earned Media Value is a made-up figure designed to justify an event in terms of brand exposure and future unrealized earnings that will come directly from holding an event,” Dator wrote. “It’s unclear precisely how TKO valued the worth of the White House fight at $1B, or how holding the show at the White House will convert nontraditional viewers into UFC fans.”
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But it wasn’t the only time the White House was counterproductive to a sporting event. The Enhanced Games, championed directly by Donald Trump Jr., who was also a key investor, were supposed to be an Olympics with the athletes allowed to use steroids.
However, an almost complete lack of interest led to a $60 million loss for the company, as Dator revealed, “Shares in Enhanced Group opened at $7.89 in May, then tumbled 44% following the games, and are now trading at $1.64, a 77% drop in value.”
Finally, highly critical of these undertakings by the current regime, he challenged, “At the end of the day, what’s $90M compared to losing over $40B in the war on Iran?”
It remains to be seen whether the added media attention, as well as the major losses for companies partnering with the White House, will keep other brands away from a partnership. So far, there hasn’t been substantial interest in such events.
And with the first two being massive financial failures for their parent companies, it might make these two events an isolated incident.
