Nevada’s Congressional Lawmakers Blame Trump for Las Vegas Slump
Posted on: February 1, 2026, 01:41h.
Last updated on: February 1, 2026, 01:41h.
- Is Trump to blame for Las Vegas’ 2025 tourism woes?
- Two Democratic federal lawmakers from Nevada say “yes”
2025 certainly wasn’t a good year for the Las Vegas tourism industry. While gaming on the Strip and elsewhere around Clark County was flat from the prior year, overall visitation crashed in Southern Nevada.
There were several possible reasons for Las Vegas tourism declining in 2025.
Some blame greedy casinos for continually raising resort fees, food and beverage, and entertainment costs. Odds on the gaming floors have also tightened. As a result, Las Vegas no longer presents perceived value for many.
Others say Americans have pulled back their leisure spending amid ongoing inflation and a snug job market. Then there are those who blame President Donald Trump’s ICE crackdown and threats to make Canada a 51st state for the decline in visitor volume.
For US Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV), the blame rests solely on the president’s shoulders.
Trump Blamed for Las Vegas Woes
Cortez Masto and Titus think the president is the biggest culprit for Las Vegas visitor volume tumbling 7.5% in 2025.
Every tourist who chose not to come to the United States represents lost tips and wages for our workers, and lost revenue for our businesses and local communities. Donald Trump’s chaotic and offensive agenda caused this. He should be fixing it. But instead of helping Nevada’s economy, he’s more focused on building himself a ballroom,” Cortez Masto wrote on X.
Titus agrees.
2025 was the year of the Trump Slump with visitation to Las Vegas down 7.5%,” Titus shared on X. “POTUS is killing our tourism economy, as he discourages international travelers and raises costs here at home.”
Sen. Jacky Rosen (R), along with Democratic Reps. Susie Lee and Steven Horsford, all of whom represent Clark County, did not weigh in on the Las Vegas tourism numbers.
Visitation Declines
The Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority said 3.12 million fewer people visited Las Vegas last year. Las Vegas hotel room rates dropped 5% to $183.87, with the going rate for a Strip casino room down 4.7% to $206.58.
MGM Resorts CEO Bill Hornbuckle believes visitor numbers will rebound in 2026. After acknowledging last fall that the Strip’s largest resort operator “lost control of the narrative,” he said the company became “more sensitive” to pricing.
During a Vegas Chamber talk last Friday called “Preview Las Vegas 2026,” Hornbuckle said the news reports suggesting Las Vegas’s near-term future is dim are wildly inaccurate.
“I read headlines, ‘Las Vegas is dead.’ Stop,” Hornbuckle said.
Patrick Nichols, CEO of The Venetian Resort, said last week that the narrative wasn’t unwarranted.
Bad news travels at lightning speed. People were whispering on social media about resort fees and parking fees and $26 bottles of water in the minibar. As an industry, we were too slow to act on a lot of that stuff, and it just kept snowballing,” Nichols said.
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