WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley Exits Company Over Donald Trump Connections – Will Not Renew Legends Deal
Mick Foley’s decision to sever ties with WWE marked a significant moment in professional wrestling on December 16, 2025, when the legendary wrestler announced via Instagram that he would no longer represent the company while Donald Trump remains president.
Mick Foley Leaves the WWE
The announcement followed Trump’s controversial comments about director Rob Reiner’s death days earlier, which Foley described as the “final straw” in his long-standing concerns about WWE’s deepening relationship with the 45th president.
This departure is part of a larger reality that has defined the sports entertainment landscape in recent years: the entanglement of professional wrestling, mixed martial arts, and American political power has become inextricably linked through Trump’s decades-long relationships with both industries.
Foley’s statement acknowledged his mounting discomfort with WWE’s proximity to Trump over the preceding months, particularly regarding what he characterized as the administration’s “cruel and inhumane treatment of immigrants,” and anyone who looks like an immigrant.
However, Trump’s response to Reiner’s December 14 death, when the president suggested the filmmaker’s passing was “reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME,” crossed a line Foley could no longer accept.
On December 16, Trump doubled down on these claims when speaking to journalists in the Oval Office, calling Reiner “a deranged person as far as Trump is concerned.” The Reiner incident, which has drawn bipartisan criticism, involved the deaths of both the director and his wife Michele Singer Reiner, with police investigating the deaths as an apparent homicide with the couple’s son in custody. No credible evidence, currently, has connected their deaths to political motivations, making Trump’s framing particularly inflammatory.
The professional wrestler’s departure carries weight because his tenure with WWE spanned transformative eras of the company’s history. Foley, now 60 years old, played a significant role in WWE’s competitive success during the Monday Night Wars of the 1990s and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013, the same year as Trump himself received the honor for his celebrity appearances at major events.
In his Instagram message, Foley stated he would not be making any appearances for the company as long as Trump remains in office and would not sign a new Legends deal when his current contract expires in June 2025. Foley’s progressive political stance is well-documented; he has previously spoken against Trump in media interviews, including a September 2020 appearance where he discussed supporting the “right side of history” during the 2020 election, expressing concern about future generations studying “this period of time and wonder how we stood by and let so much go wrong.”
“PARTING WAYS WITH WWE
While I have been concerned about WWE‘s close relationship with Donald Trump for several months — especially in light of his administration’s ongoing cruel and inhumane treatment of immigrants (and pretty much anyone who “looks like an immigrant”) — reading the President’s incredibly cruel comments in the wake of Rob Reiner’s death is the final straw for me.
I no longer wish to represent a company that coddles a man so seemingly void of compassion as he marches our country towards autocracy. Last night, I informed @WWE talent relations that I would not be making any appearances for the company as long as this man remains in office.
Additionally, I will not be signing a new Legends deal when my current one expires in June. I love WWE, will always treasure my time with them, and I am deeply appreciative for all the opportunities they afforded me. But, in the words of Popeye the sailor, “I stands all I can stands, and I can’t stands no more.””
The Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operations have intensified dramatically since January 2025, providing context for Foley’s specific concerns about the administration’s treatment of communities. ICE has conducted raids across major cities including Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Miami, New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C., detaining thousands of people. Simultaneous operations involving unmarked vehicles, warrantless arrests, and tactics including helicopter raids with flashbangs at residential complexes. As of December 2025, approximately 59,000 people were held in ICE custody, exceeding detention capacity by 140 percent, with over 70 percent having no criminal record. The administration authorized ICE to conduct raids in schools, hospitals, and places of worship.
Donald Trump’s Connections to the WWE
Following his 2013 Hall of Fame induction, Trump moved beyond appearance-based involvement and into what could be described as integrated influence. WWE’s management structure has increasingly reflected alignment with Trump’s political orbit. Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE’s Chief Content Officer, and his wife Stephanie McMahon, the daughter of Vince and Linda McMahon, met with Trump at the White House as recently as September 2025 and shared a joint Instagram post celebrating the visit.
Other prominent wrestlers have followed suit; WWE Champion Cody Rhodes has made appearances at Trump rallies, and Roman Reigns, the company’s biggest current star, told Variety in 2025 that he supports the president and indicated he voted for him in the previous election.
The Trump administration’s connection to professional wrestling extends beyond ceremonial appearances. Linda McMahon, the co-founder of WWE alongside her husband Vince, now serves as Secretary of the Department of Education, a position she secured through a 51-45 party-line Senate vote on March 3, 2025. McMahon’s personal relationship with Trump traces back to the 1980s when he first became involved with WWE.
After leaving WWE in 2009, she served as Trump’s administrator during his first term from 2017 to 2019, receiving an overwhelmingly bipartisan 81-19 confirmation vote at that time. Her return to Trump’s administration as Education Secretary has proven more contentious, as she faces a contested confirmation partly due to a recently filed lawsuit alleging she and Vince knowingly enabled sexual abuse by an employee during the 1970s through 1990s. The McMahons deny these allegations, and the litigation is currently on hold as the Maryland Supreme Court revisits state statute of limitations laws.
Trump and the UFC
Trump’s involvement with UFC represents a parallel track of influence that has perhaps proven even more consequential to the organization’s trajectory. Dana White, UFC President, told business publications: “Nobody took us seriously. Except Donald Trump.” Trump’s decision to host UFC events at his casino provided the organizational legitimacy necessary for the sport to penetrate mainstream markets.
While UFC grew and eventually was acquired by Endeavor and merged with WWE to form TKO Group Holdings in 2023, White’s personal relationship with Trump evolved into a political partnership that reached its apex during the 2024 election cycle. White became instrumental in Trump’s campaign strategy targeting younger male voters, a demographic crucial to Trump’s electoral performance.
White facilitated Trump’s appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast and coordinated appearances on other right-leaning programs in what The Guardian described as connecting “MAGA and the manosphere,” the loosely affiliated ecosystem of podcasters, streamers, and content creators who appeal primarily to young men.
White spoke at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally just before the November 2024 election and was present at Trump’s victory party in West Palm Beach, Florida, where Trump reminisced about assisting White in securing venues during UFC’s early struggles.
Money & Mergers
The financial implications of Trump’s influence on both WWE and UFC have become measurable. TKO Group Holdings, the parent company created through the 2023 merger of WWE and UFC, saw its stock price increase approximately 40 percent following Trump’s 2024 election victory, reaching a valuation of nearly $30 billion. Linda McMahon retains substantial financial interests in the merged entity, holding more than $50 million in TKO Group shares as of early 2025, though her actual ownership stake has diminished significantly through Vince McMahon’s departures and stock sales.
The Trump administration has also leveraged the merged entity for political purposes. In October 2025, Trump announced plans for a UFC championship fight at the White House to commemorate America’s 250th birthday, characterizing the event as demonstrating “TKO Group’s brand equity” while simultaneously aligning the sporting spectacle with presidential authority.
The Trump administration’s has signaled unprecedented willingness to facilitate large corporate mergers. FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, appointed by Trump, stated the agency’s “job is to get out of the way” when transactions do not violate antitrust law. This shift materialized when the FCC, chaired by Trump appointee Brendan Carr, approved the $8.4 billion Paramount-Skydance merger on July 24, 2025, in a party-line vote.
Immediately following that approval, Paramount secured an exclusive seven-year, $7.7 billion UFC broadcasting deal. TKO Group’s stock price increased approximately 40 percent following Trump’s 2024 election victory. The administration’s regulatory stance would benefit entities whose leadership maintains close personal relationships with the president.
Why did Mick Foley Leave the WWE?
Foley’s decision to step away from WWE must be understood within this context of institutional entanglement. His stated concerns about WWE’s “close relationship with Donald Trump” reflect the reality that the company’s management and principal shareholders have become intertwined with Trump’s political network in ways that extend far beyond ceremonial appearances or nostalgic WWE storylines.
Foley’s objection to Trump’s comments about Rob Reiner’s death reflects anxieties about the tone and character of political leadership that WWE’s visible alignment with Trump implies. The filmmaker, who died under circumstances now being investigated as a homicide, had been a vocal Trump critic throughout his life. Trump’s decision to weaponize Reiner’s death by attributing it to opposition to his presidency violated conventional political norms.
