What Does Trump Mean For Gambling?
There were few surprises in 2016 that topped Donald Trump becoming President of the United States. The man was a joke for most of his campaign, with attention being drawn not only to his unintentionally silly appearance, but also his extremely controversial stances on political issues. He made outrageous claims, such as that a wall would be built between Mexico and the United States, and although it is unlikely such a wall will ever see the light of day, there is still much concern about what will happen once Trump is officially sworn in as president.
One of the concerns being voiced by some is what will happen to online gambling laws in the United States with Trump at the helm. The country has a long history of gambling laws being a point of controversy, and it is for this very reason that Las Vegas became the gambling capital of the United States, and the world. After all, United States citizens travel to Las Vegas because gambling is legal there, although the bright lights and party atmosphere also likely have something to do with it.
What Has Trump Said?
It’s important in such situations, when people may fly into alarmist attitudes and start saying all sorts of crazy things, to focus on what Mister Trump has actually said, as opposed to what others may claim he has said. Facebook is great for many things, but not as a source of reliable information. If you believed everything you read on Facebook you likely wouldn’t have a realistic view of the world, since every second article is, let’s be honest, sensationalised click bait.
The truth is that Mister Trump hasn’t really said much at all about gambling in the United States, or about online gambling in the United States, for that matter. Some may already be claiming that he will ban online gambling from ocean to ocean with one fell swoop, but he really has not said any such thing. His only recent statement about gambling was in relation to online gambling, and it wasn’t very recent at all. It was five years ago, and he made the statement after partnering with a man named Marc Lasrey.
The two formed a company called Poker Ventures LLC, which had a focus on providing online poker. Trump simply stated that online gambling had to be made legal in the United States, since the majority of the rest of world was already doing so.
No Firm Stance
From this one can hardly claim that he has a firm stance against gambling, and that he intends on making sweeping changes of any kind, one way or the other. In fact, one might say that since the man clearly has a vested interest in online gambling, he is unlikely to be taking a firm stance against it. This, of course, is really just unfounded speculation. Either way, the man may have claimed he was going to build an enormous wall, but he certainly hasn’t claimed he is going to be banning online gambling.
Wait, See, and Avoid Rumours
Since the man only officially becomes President of the country on January 16th, there is little point in throwing around speculation and causing a panic in the meantime. Some of your friends may already have thrown up their hands dramatically, declared that it is the end of the free world, and closed all their online casino accounts, but such people generally just like to be part of the unfounded drama. A rational person will wait, see what happens, and react when and if anything significant occurs.
Who Trump decides to appoint as his cabinet ministers may be a good thing to pay attention to, as it will give some indication as to what his intentions are, now that he has succeeded in becoming President. Previously in 2011 decisions were made that turned online gambling in the United States into a reality, and those decisions would have to be reversed in order for the current industry to be affected. Again, there is no indication that anyone in government has any intention of doing so, but whom Trump assigns as attorney general will give indication of what the future may hold in this area.
Relax, and Ignore Speculation
There will always be those friends who jump on the drama train, for any reason at all, and declare that the world is going to explode next week Tuesday. It’s best to simply give them a smile, a pat on the shoulder, and send them on their way. Sure, it was not exactly expected that Trump would be the President of the United States, but given what the political game is these days, and how people go about getting into government, most will take his outrageous personality with a pinch of salt. We will for sure and let you know if real alarm bells start clanging.