One of the biggest surprises of the current century took place this week with the election of Donald Trump as the new president of United States. The new president-elect undoubtedly has many issues on his plate to tackle as he moves into the Oval Office, and the advancement of federal online gambling laws will most probably not top his to-do list. However, when the dust settles and his Republican soldiers get to work, we can expect to see some action in this industry as well. Some analysts, however, believe that it won’t necessarily be what we’re hoping for.
Donald Trump was quoted in the past for being vaguely supportive of online gambling, but he has never really pushed the issue. It certainly wasn’t an issue on his campaign declaration. However, Trump is surrounded by people who are distinctly against the legalization of online gambling, and some have actively backed laws that call to ban it outright. On the other hand, Chris Christie, the current governor of New Jersey who has spent many of his years in office introducing online gambling to his state and pushing to have the federal sports betting ban, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, overturned (at least in New Jersey), is also a strong supporter of Trump. Christie hopes to play a part in Trump’s new cabinet, although it remains unclear of just which role – if any – he will occupy.
We also cannot ignore the ties between Donald Trump and Sheldon Adelson, one of the strongest and most vocal opponents of legalized online gambling in the United States ever seen. Adelson donated millions to Trump’s campaign, although it is generally believed that it is not so much because he has a great love for the man himself, but rather he would have done anything to bring the Republicans into power. It has also been suggested that if lawmakers managed to push a federal law through that bans online gambling in the US, and it was brought to President Trump’s desk for signing, he would have no problem doing so.
Certain Republican lawmakers, possibly buoyed with confidence that they now have majorities in the House and the Senate, won’t give up on their dream to see RAWA (the Restoration of American’s Wire Act) become law, despite the fact that the legislation has failed to advance up until now.
As with everything currently in US politics, we will just have to take a wait-and-see position and hope that things become clearer in the near future.
