Donald Trump has joked that the Dallas Mavericks’ decision to trade Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers should be reversed, calling the deal one of the worst in sporting history during a speech in Dallas.
Addressing the Republican National Committee’s midterm convention at the American Airlines Center on Wednesday night, the president said: “I must tell you, I don’t understand the trade. That trade is not good.”
He added: “It’s not going to go down as the greatest trade in the history of sports. It might go down as the worst trade in the history of sports.”
Mr Trump then acknowledged that the Boston Red Sox’s sale of baseball legend Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees in 1919 might still hold that unwanted distinction.
“Maybe we could redo that trade. I redo deals all the time. … I understand deals. But that one, I didn’t quite get,” he said, before returning to subjects including US oil production and Iran.
The Luka Dončić trade that stunned the NBA
Dončić was sent to the Lakers in February 2025 in a three-team deal that also involved Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris. In return, Dallas received 10-time All-Star Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round draft pick.
The trade was completed during the NBA season and represented a rare exchange of two reigning All-NBA players. Dončić, a five-time first-team All-NBA selection, had led Dallas to the NBA Finals in 2024 and was widely regarded as the franchise’s defining player.
The move provoked an angry reaction from many Mavericks supporters, who questioned why the team had given up its 27-year-old superstar. Dončić later made his first return to Dallas as a Laker in April 2025, when fans staged tributes to the player who had become the face of the franchise.
The Mavericks are primarily owned by the family of Miriam Adelson, a major Republican donor and a political ally of Mr Trump. The president’s remarks came during the opening night of the Republican midterm convention, a two-day event being held in Dallas on 9 and 10 September.
Mr Trump has previously used his presidential platform to comment on contentious sporting issues. He has criticised changes to NFL kick-off rules and complained publicly after quarterback Shedeur Sanders was not selected in the early rounds of the 2025 draft.
