On Friday, Trump traveled to Syracuse, New York, where he appeared at a campaign event in support of Bruce Blakeman, the Republican candidate seeking the state's governorship. At the rally, Trump noted that Mike Tyson — a former holder of the heavyweight world title — was present among those gathered.
Prior to the Syracuse event, Tyson made a stop at the White House to show support for the president in the run-up to the midterm elections. At a West Wing briefing room appearance, before boarding Air Force One alongside the president for the trip to Syracuse, Tyson told reporters he expected Donald Trump to take the win.
Midway through his remarks to the rally audience, Trump noticed Tyson seated among the crowd and extended an invitation for the former boxing champion to join him at the podium, asking aloud whether Tyson would come up to the stage. Invited to attend as Trump's guest that day, Tyson took a moment on the Syracuse stage to address the crowd and express his appreciation toward the president, offering a brief verbal acknowledgment of thanks.
Tyson conveyed a sense of honour at sharing the occasion with President Trump. He attributed his presence there to the influence of Donald Trump's presidency.
Their connection traces back to the 1980s, when boxing events staged by Trump in Atlantic City formed an early point of contact between them. Tyson has also engaged with White House officials on the subject of marijuana policy reform, pushing for changes to the laws that govern its use.
Tyson's position on cannabis, long a personal stance, represents one thread in a relationship with Trump that stretches back many years. A call for federal marijuana reform reached the White House in June 2025, with Tyson adding his name to a group of athletes that included Kevin Durant.
Tyson had pushed for those objectives under the prior administration, though the issue did not gain traction as a priority at that level. The proposal tabled extended beyond a straightforward scheduling adjustment.
Two proposals drew attention alongside each other: one calling for pardons tied to marijuana offenses of a nonviolent nature, the other aimed at dismantling the banking barriers that keep cannabis businesses operating outside the financial mainstream.
In an interview with a prominent news outlet, Tyson stated that moving cannabis to a different scheduling category stood as his foremost objective, and he voiced dissatisfaction with the approaches taken by former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden on the matter of cannabis reform.
An executive order bearing Trump's signature in December 2025 directed the attorney general to accelerate the regulatory process for reclassifying marijuana from Schedule I down to Schedule III. What the order set in motion was a mandate for officials to work through the established federal rulemaking procedures, with the underlying policy change itself remaining unfinished at that point.
