Trump Gets Boost From Kid Rock for Executive Order on Ticket Sales

TIME

Anew executive order signed by President Trump Monday aims to hit all the right notes with concertgoers by addressing the price-gouging of tickets for live events. It orders the Federal Trade Commission to ensure price transparency at all stages of ticket buying and the Attorney General to ensure that ticket scalpers are abiding by the law and Internal Revenue Code. The executive order claims it will double down on enforcing the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act, which targets scalpers who use bots to purchase tickets and resell them at much higher prices—profiting the scalper instead of the artist. Kid Rock stood next to the commander-in-chief in a red-white-and-blue jumpsuit emblazoned with the American flag.

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00:00A friend of mine, Kid Rock, sometimes referred to as Bob. I know him as Bob, but he's been a good friend for a long time, many years.

00:09And he's been after something that is for the good of a lot of people, including in particular the public,

00:17and having to do with ticket sales and scalping and all of the gouging that you have been reading about that's gotten worse and worse with time.

00:25And I didn't know too much about it, but I checked it out, and it is a big problem.

00:30And I thought, I think you've been trying to get this done for 20 years or something.

00:34He said, Trump got it done in two weeks. But we came up with a very serious EO.

00:40So what this executive order does, it charges the FTC and the Department of Justice with rigorously enforcing laws on the books,

00:49in collaboration with state attorneys general that have power over consumer protection,

00:54and other people who have the power to really crack down on this issue,

00:58so that entertainers and fans won't be subject to these abusive and oftentimes illegal practices.

01:04It doesn't matter your politics. First of all, thank you, Mr. President, because this has happened at lightning speed.

01:10I know you put, I want to make sure, Alina Haba. Alina Haba gets her credit, too, because I know she worked very hard on this.

01:16But thank you for making this happen so quick. Anyone who's bought a concert ticket in the last decade, maybe 20 years,

01:21no matter what your politics are, knows that it's a conundrum. You buy a ticket for $100.

01:25By the time you check out, it's $170. You don't know what you're getting charged for.

01:28But more importantly, these bots, you know, they come in to get all the good tickets to your favorite shows you want to go to.

01:34And then they're relisted immediately for sometimes a four or 500 percent markup.

01:40And the artists don't see any of that money. And, you know, ultimately, I think this is a great first step.

01:45I would love down the road if there'd be some legislation that we could actually put a cap on the resale of tickets.

01:50And I'm a capitalist and a deregulation guy, but they've tried this in some places in Europe,

01:55and it seems to be the only thing that's us as artists be able to get the tickets into the hands of the fans at the prices we set.

02:02OK, ready, everybody? You better do well with this. He's going to do it.

02:11Make sure everything is nice and clean. Make America funny. You're not in a clean industry.

02:17Hold that up.

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