How is Donald Trump linked to WWE? Connection explored as Mick Foley severs ties with organization over President’s Rob Reiner comment 

President Donald Trump’s connection to WWE stretched back decades, according to Politico, which noted that the former president was a WWE Hall of Famer. He hosted WrestleMania events in the late 1980s and later took part in a 2009 storyline that saw him purportedly “buy” Monday Night Raw.

His relationship with Vince McMahon played out both on-screen and off. McMahon, Trump’s real-life friend, faced Trump in the widely publicized “Battle of the Billionaires” at WrestleMania 23. The storyline ended with Donald shaving McMahon’s head bald in the ring after McMahon’s chosen wrestler lost the match.

NBC News reported that Donald's ties to the McMahon family carried into politics. Linda McMahon served as President Donald's education secretary and had earlier led the Small Business Administration during his first term. Paul “Triple H” Levesque, the McMahons’ son-in-law and WWE’s current chief content officer, has also appeared at the White House during Donald's presidency.

The renewed focus on Donald's WWE history came as Mick Foley drew attention after President Donald Trump lashed out at Rob Reiner, following reports that the actor-director and his wife were found dead in their home.

Mick Foley stepped away from WWE over Trump ties and remarks after Rob Reiner’s death:

Mick Foley announced recently that he had severed ties with World Wrestling Entertainment for at least three years, according to a December 17, 2025, report from NBC News, pointing to the company’s relationship with Donald and the president’s response following Rob Reiner’s death.

In a message shared with his Instagram followers, Foley said he informed WWE on Monday that he,

“would not be making any appearances for the company as long as this man remains in office.”

The message continued,

“I no longer wish to represent a company that coddles a man so seemingly void of compassion as he marches our country towards autocracy,” he wrote.

The decision followed President Trump's remarks about Reiner, whom Foley described as the “final straw.” The Hollywood director was found dead alongside his wife at their Los Angeles home. A family source told NBC News that the couple appeared to have died from stab wounds. Foley said his concerns with WWE had been building for months.

“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,” he wrote.

Foley wrestled under multiple identities during his career, including Cactus Jack, Dude Love, and Mankind, characters that ranged from violent brawler to eccentric crowd favorite. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013, in a class that also included President Trump.

President Donald Trump drew backlash after responding to the deaths of Rob and Michele Reiner:

As tributes poured in from across Hollywood, President Donald Trump shared his response to the deaths of Rob and Michele Reiner on his Truth Social platform on Monday, December 15.

“A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood. Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, 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, sometimes referred to as TDS,” Trump wrote.

“He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before. May Rob and Michele rest in peace!” he continued.

The statement prompted backlash from members of Trump’s own party, including Republican officials Thomas Massie and Marjorie Taylor Greene. When asked by a reporter whether he stood by his remarks, President Donald Trump later doubled down.

“Well, I wasn’t a fan of his at all, he was a deranged person as far as Trump is concerned.” Trump responded.

The president added that Reiner was “bad for our country” because of his outspoken opposition to the administration. Patrick Schwarzenegger, who starred in The White Lotus, reacted publicly to President Trump's remarks by reposting the former president’s Truth Social statement on X. He added,

“What a disgusting and vile statement.”

Other figures from Hollywood also voiced their response. Actress Mia Farrow shared her reaction on Threads, writing,

“Rob Reiner will always be remembered for the truly wonderful films he gave us, and for his kindness and warmth, his humor, his love for his country. Trump will be remembered for his greed, selfishness, corruption, cruelty, his vengeance & for trying to destroy the best of America.”

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Late-night host Seth Meyers addressed President Trump's comments during his show, describing the statement about Rob and Michele Reiner as “even worse than I could have imagined.”

“Rob was no fan of the president, and because of that, the president was no fan of Rob’s, just about 12 hours after Rob and Michele had been murdered in their own home, he wanted to take the opportunity to go on social media and post his thoughts about this tragedy. I feared this was something he was going to do, and I was pretty certain that it would cast a shadow on what was already a really dark day, but it was even worse than I could have imagined,” Meyers said.

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