Stephen A. Smith claims Donald Trump ran for President to avenge the NFL’s decision to prevent him from buying the Buffalo Bills
Donald Trump had told Stephen A. Smith that if other NFL owners attempted to stall his bid to purchase the Bills, he would run for President and exact his revenge.

Stephen A. Smith and Donald Trump (Images via IMAGO)
The 2024 Presidential Elections ended with Donald Trump securing 58% of the total votes, with the rest going to the Democrats. But what if there was an alternative timeline in which President Donald Trump never ran for the post of leader of the free world? Such a timeline could have been a reality but the world was robbed of such an opportunity due to the NFL.
Yes, that is correct. President Donald Trump‘s motivation to run for President significantly increased after the NFL rejected his bid to buy the Buffalo Bills in 2014. At the time, the team was being sold for a little over a billion dollars. Trump, being the business mastermind he is, wasted no time taking the first step toward realizing his dream of owning an NFL franchise.
However, his offer at the time was $1 billion to buy the team, and just as he thought nobody would outbid him, Terry Pegula jumped in and bid $1.4 billion. This resulted in him winning and ultimately securing ownership of the Buffalo Bills.
This did not sit well with Trump. The man likes to win and the whole incident left a bad taste in his mouth and induced the urge to get back at the NFL. After he had placed the bid, Donald Trump spoke to ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith regarding the possibility of other owners attempting to shut his bid down. He essentially hinted at the possibility of him running for President primarily with an intent to get back at the 31 other billionaires that own the other teams.
The rest is history because Donald Trump wound up losing as he fell short of $400 million. This led to Terry Pegula stepping in and taking control of the Bills franchise. Although there is no bad blood between Pegula and Trump, the same cannot be said with certainty about his relationship with the NFL Commissioner and other team owners.
Donald Trump mercilessly went after Roger Goodell in his first term when Black players were kneeling during the national anthem
Essentially, Trump losing out on a chance to buy an NFL team is what started his ‘villain arc’ and motivated him to become the President. Stephen A. Smith shared the detailed story on CNN.

In 2014, Donald Trump wanted to purchase the Buffalo Bills. The price tag was about 1.4 billion dollars. According to my sources, he had about 1.1 billion dollars. And he called me to talk to me about his desire to own the Buffalo Bills. The last time we ever spoke, and he said to me, and I’m quoting…talking about the NFL owners. ‘If them motherf*****s get in my way, I’m going to get them all back. I’m going to run for President.’ And sure enough, that’s what happened. He didn’t get the team. And because he didn’t get the team, he turned around and ran for President and he won. So the NFL jokes with me all the time, ‘So it’s our fault. It’s our fault that he’s the President’…
Stephen A. Smith stated
This is not the first time that fans have heard of Trump’s attempt to try and buy the Bills. The President spoke of this on the Bussin’ With The Boys podcast. He did not just offer a billion dollars to purchase the Bills.
His first offer was paired with an immediate letter of credit to show that he was serious about becoming an NFL owner. However, the one who offers the most money wins and in this case, too, Terry Pegula offered $1.4 billion and took control of the franchise.
🚨🚨THIS IS WILD🚨🚨
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) March 23, 2025
DONALD TRUMP RAN FOR PRESIDENT TO GET BACK AT THE #NFL AFTER THE LEAGUE DID NOT ALLOW HIM TO BUY THE BUFFALO #BILLS.
“Stephen A., if these motherf*ckers get in my way’ I’m gonna get them all back. I’m gonna run for president.’”
WOW. pic.twitter.com/VFMPUFxHIR
Despite losing to Pegula, Trump commended him on the podcast. His decision to choose Josh Allen and retain him as the franchise quarterback sat well with Trump. The quarterback is one of his favorite players to watch.
Trump’s appointment as the President was a tense period for the NFL because historically, Roger Goodell has had to face his wrath. During his first tenure, when black players began to kneel during the national anthem to protest against police brutality, Trump immediately instructed the Commissioner to ensure players did not kneel and criticized him over his failure to maintain control.
It is safe to say that Donald Trump is no longer bothered by losing the bid to Terry Pegula because it resulted in him earning the highest position in America.