Trump Suggests Redoing Doncic Trade to Lakers

Donald Trump has suggested that Luka Doncic's trade from the Dallas Mavericks to the Los Angeles Lakers should be undone, calling it one of the worst deals in sporting history.

Trump made the comments on 9 September at the Republican Party convention in Dallas, held at the American Airlines Center — the Mavericks' home arena.

"I don't understand this trade. What do I know about basketball? I'd say it won't go down in history as the greatest trade in sports. It might go down as the worst. Maybe we should redo this trade. I redo deals all the time. This deal needs to be redone. I don't understand it," Trump said, as quoted by The Dallas Morning News.

By all accounts, the remark drew on Trump's own frame of reference for dealmaking rather than any basketball expertise. According to Record, he also weighed the trade against the sale of Babe Ruth from the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees in 1920, after which Boston went 86 years without a title, saying he was unsure which deal deserved the label of worst in sporting history.

Dallas sent Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to the Lakers in February 2025, receiving Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick in return. The Mavericks have since moved Davis on again, trading him to Washington in February 2026. Doncic had played for Dallas since the 2018/19 season before the switch to Los Angeles.

It is not the first time Trump has weighed in on a sporting decision. During the 2026 World Cup, he called for the red card shown to USA forward Folarin Balogun in a last-16 match against Bosnia and Herzegovina (2:0) to be rescinded; the card was overturned, and Balogun was cleared to play the next match, a 1:4 defeat to Belgium.