President Donald Trump is trying to make the basketball gambling bust that rocked the sports world about himself.
The president jumped into the scandal on Sunday, three days after federal agents arrested NBA Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups on allegations that he was part of a gambling operation with ties to the mafia.
But when Trump, 79, weighed in, he put his own twist—and pettiness—on the subject.
“What’s worse, the NBA Players cheating at cards, and probably much else, or the Democrats cheating on Elections,” he began in a post on Truth Social.
“The 2020 Presidential Election, being Rigged and Stolen, is a far bigger SCANDAL. Look what happened to our Country when a Crooked Moron became our ‘President!’ We now know everything. I hope the DOJ pursues this with as much ‘gusto’ as befitting the biggest SCANDAL in American history!”
After Trump’s not-so-subtle nudge to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, he continued:
“If not, it will happen again, including the upcoming Midterms. No mail-in or ‘Early’ Voting, Yes to Voter ID! Watch how totally dishonest the California Prop Vote is! Millions of Ballots being ‘shipped.’ GET SMART REPUBLICANS, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!!!”
Billips was taken into custody on the same night a current NBA player was arrested on similar charges. FBI Director Kash Patel said 30 people were arrested across 11 states in the scheme.
Shortly after Trump’s tirade, California Gov. Gavin Newsom entered the chat.
“Ramblings of an old man that knows he’s going to LOSE,” Newsom, 58, captioned a photo of Trump’s rant in a post on X.
Ramblings of an old man that knows he’s going to LOSE. pic.twitter.com/JQrXqLXvqn
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) October 26, 2025
Trump’s reference to midterm elections comes after the Department of Justice announced Friday that it would be sending election monitors to California.
The DOJ plans to deploy monitors to polling sites in five California counties—Los Angeles, Orange, Kern, Riverside, and Fresno—for the Nov. 4 special election, as well as to polling sites in Passaic County, New Jersey, which will be voting for governor the same day. All six targeted areas are well-known Democratic strongholds.
Newsom spokesperson Brandon Richards told the Daily Beast on Friday, “This administration has made no secret of its goal to undermine free and fair elections. Deploying these federal forces appears to be an intimidation tactic meant for one thing: suppress the vote.”
The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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