President Donald Trump has signed an executive order targeting ticket scalping. Joined by musician Kid Rock in the Oval Office, Trump said the order is intended to protect fans from having to “pay crazy prices” for tickets—potentially affecting fans of major artists like Taylor Swift.
Newsweek has reached out to a representative for Swift outside of regular working hours via email for comment.
Why It Matters
Swift embarked on her record-breaking Eras Tour in 2023. The tour ultimately saw Swift play 149 shows across five continents and became the highest-grossing live music tour of all time.
L: U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to a Q&A with Pastor Paula White at the National Faith Advisory Summit on October 28, 2024 in Powder Springs, Georgia, R: Taylor Swift is seen leaving the “Poor… L: U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to a Q&A with Pastor Paula White at the National Faith Advisory Summit on October 28, 2024 in Powder Springs, Georgia, R: Taylor Swift is seen leaving the “Poor Things” premiere at DGA Theater on December 06, 2023 in New York City. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/James Devaney/GC Images
Prior to the tour beginning, back in early 2023 ticket pre-sales for the initial U.S. leg of the tour became chaotic as unprecedented numbers of fans attempted to buy tickets, resulting in hours-long waiting times and website crashes. Ticketmaster ultimately canceled the general sale, due to “extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand.”
The ticket distribution company faced swift backlash from fans. In a statement issued at the time, Swift said “There are a multitude of reasons why people had such a hard time trying to get tickets and I’m trying to figure out how this situation can be improved moving forward. I’m not going to make excuses for anyone because we asked them, multiple times, if they could handle this kind of demand and we were assured they could.” Ticketmaster later faced questions from Congress over the debacle.
What To Know
The order aims to crack down on “exploitative ticket scalping,” and has introduced “commonsense reforms” to the way live entertainment events are priced and targets “unscrupulous middle men,” who impose “egregious fees.” In the order, Trump described fans being priced out in the current climate as “very unfortunate.”
The order directs Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Attorney General Pam Bondi to ensure that scalpers reselling tickets above face value comply with Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations.
U.S. President Donald Trump listens as entertainer Kid Rock speaks during an executive order signing event in the Oval Office of the White House on March 31, 2025 in Washington, DC. U.S. President Donald Trump listens as entertainer Kid Rock speaks during an executive order signing event in the Oval Office of the White House on March 31, 2025 in Washington, DC. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
As Trump signed the order, Kid Rock said that “Anyone who has bought a concert ticket in the last decade, maybe 20 years – no matter what your politics are – know that it’s a conundrum,” before describing this order as a “great first step.”
How might the executive order affect ticket-buying for fans?
Multiple things went wrong in the Era’s Tour Pre-Sale Ticket debacle. Massive traffic overwhelmed Ticketmaster’s systems, bots and resellers reportedly scooped up a significant share of tickets, verified fan systems failed to adequately screen real users and lack of clear pricing and fee disclosure led to consumer frustration.
The Executive Order will implement the following features which could help in future similar situations.
- BOTS Enforcement: The order directs the DOJ and FTC to crack down more aggressively on bot usage. If such enforcement had been in place earlier, it might have deterred or limited bot-driven scalping.
- Price Transparency: The order requires ticket sellers to show full pricing (including fees) upfront. One consumer complaint during the Swift sale was unexpected surcharges—this rule would have alleviated that.
- Regulatory Oversight: Instructing the Treasury and DOJ to ensure compliance with anti-scalping laws and tax reporting would have created additional accountability mechanisms for companies like Ticketmaster and large resellers.
However, even with these measures implemented, technical infrastructure failures, demand surges and pre-sale systems would have posed major risks.
The root issue in the Swift scandal was not only scalping, but capacity management and user verification, both of which fall outside the direct scope of the executive order.
Swift’s fans are not the only ones who have faced issues in purchasing tickets through Ticketmaster. In 2024, ticket sales for the band Oasis’ reunion tour led to widespread controversy, leaving thousands of fans infuriated and sparking a government consultation in the United Kingdom.
Though Trump does not address any specific artists in the Executive Order, he has spoken about Swift in the context of previous legislation. In 2024 he wrote on Truth Social that, “I signed and was responsible for the Music Modernization act for Taylor Swift and all other Musical Artists. Joe Biden didn’t do anything for Taylor, and never will. There’s no way she could endorse Crooked Joe Biden, the worst and most corrupt President in the History of our County and be disloyal to the man who made her so much money.”
What People Are Saying
The Executive Order states that: “President Trump believes that Americans shouldn’t be subjected to exploitative pricing and unfair fees. This Executive Order tackles an issue President Trump highlighted on the campaign trail, where he vowed to work on combating high ticket prices and described the current climate, where fans are priced out, as “very unfortunate.”
Live Nation, which owns Ticketmaster in a statement shared with Newsweek over email: “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.”
What’s Next
How the order will influence the music industry remains to be seen. The implementation of Trump’s executive order and enforcement details are still being awaited.
