President Trump has historically been a supporter of casinos, having owned a few of them himself. As a result he has many connections in this industry, some of which he may be eager to please in future. This could lead to the legalisation of this industry and the potential creation of a new tax generation revenue. This is possibly the most lucrative aspect of legalised gambling for the government.
The President has said previously that the US is missing out by not offering this kind of recreational activity to its citizens. This is a hint as to his allegiances with the industry, though it’s not a concrete statement of intent as such. In the past, he has shown interest in establishing online casinos with his daughter, so this could be indicative of what he will do as president.
We may not see a speedy regulation of online casinos but softer gambling sites, like bingo sites might see a faster entrance to the market. In other markets, bingo sites with new features appear regularly and there is a healthy state of competition. This could be appealing to President Trump, as they also pay taxes to the government on their profits.
Unfortunately, it’s not quite so black and white for those in the US, as our legislation process is thorough to say the least. We have laws in place, like the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, that make it illegal for a payment provider to allow their service to be used for illegal gambling.
There’s also the U.S. Wire Act of 1961 which again makes payment transfers to gambling operators illegal. Both of these would also need to be overruled for legalised gambling to occur and they’re not the only minor laws that would need to be repealed. Indian laws would also need to be considered, as Native American gambling laws are tricky to manoeuvre around.
As a land based casino mogul, President Trump may actually be less likely to hear calls for legalised online gambling. As we’ve seen in other markets, online gaming tends to take a portion of the market away from the traditional gambling destinations in favour of heading online instead.
Even if President Trump decided to help the online gambling cause, our states would still be fragmented. As each state makes up their own minds on their laws, there’s no guarantee that they would all vote one way or another. Right now, very few states have any form of gambling or online betting, this could remain the same if the representatives of the majority of states don’t vote in favour of such a bill.
As a newcomer to the office of president, there’s nothing to say that gambling law is even on President Trump’s radar. Many feel that there are much more pressing concerns to think about, like international policy and issues in the cabinet. If this turns out to be the case, then we may not see any move on online gambling for two or three years, so there’s still quite a bit of time to wait for a resolution.
