Under Armour does not support Donald Trump as a company. It has no corporate PAC, no record of corporate donations to Trump, and no formal endorsement of him. The reason people ask whether Under Armour supports Trump traces back to founder and CEO Kevin Plank, who called Trump “a real asset” for the country in a 2017 television interview, walked the comment back within days, and later quit Trump’s manufacturing council after Charlottesville. Plank’s personal political giving skews Republican; the company’s employee donations skew heavily Democratic. The brand itself has tried to stay out of partisan politics, with mixed results.
Where the “Asset” Comment Came From
On February 7, 2017, Plank appeared on CNBC’s Fast Money Halftime Report and said of the newly inaugurated president: “To have such a pro-business president is something that is a real asset for the country.”1ESPN. Stephen Curry, Under Armour CEO Discuss Donald Trump Comments A #BoycottUnderArmour hashtag trended within hours.2Forbes. Kevin Plank’s Trump Praise Leads to a Downgrade for Under Armour Stock
Under Armour’s biggest athlete endorsers pushed back publicly. Stephen Curry told the Bay Area News Group he agreed with the “asset” description “if you remove the ‘et’ from asset,” and said he would leave the company if its leadership was “not in line with my core values.”1ESPN. Stephen Curry, Under Armour CEO Discuss Donald Trump Comments Ballet dancer Misty Copeland said on Instagram that she “strongly” disagreed with Plank and had urged him to take “public action to clearly communicate and reflect our common values.”3CNBC. Misty Copeland Responds to Under Armour CEO’s Trump Support Dwayne Johnson called Plank’s words “divisive and lacking in perspective” and said they were “neither my words, nor my beliefs.”4ABC News. Dwayne Johnson, Misty Copeland, Steph Curry Speak Out None of them left the company at the time.
Plank issued a clarifying statement on February 8, 2017, saying his comments were made “exclusively from a business perspective.” A week later he took out a full-page ad in the Baltimore Sun stating that his phrasing “did not accurately reflect my intent,” that the company “stand[s] firmly for equal rights,” and that Under Armour “publicly opposes the president’s travel ban.”5WBAL-TV. Under Armour CEO Responds to Criticism Over Trump Comments Curry said afterward: “That’s the Under Armour that I know.”1ESPN. Stephen Curry, Under Armour CEO Discuss Donald Trump Comments
What the Political Donation Records Show
Under Armour, as a corporation, has never operated a political action committee. Every political contribution attributed to the company in federal records comes from individual employees or their family members, not from corporate funds.6OpenSecrets. Under Armour – Totals
In the 2024 cycle, those employee-level donations went roughly 87% to Democrats and 13% to Republicans. Top recipients included Kamala Harris, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and the DNC. The largest reported Republican donations from Under Armour employees were $529 to Nikki Haley and $500 to Andy Harris. Donald Trump does not appear as a recipient in those records.7OpenSecrets. Under Armour – Recipients
Plank’s personal financial network is a separate matter. Contributions tied to “Plank Companies” during the 2024 cycle went entirely to Republican candidates and committees, including $10,000 to the Republican Party of Texas, $6,700 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and individual donations to senators such as Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley. No donation to Trump personally appears in the available records.8OpenSecrets. Plank Companies – Recipients
So the money story cuts two ways. The company’s rank-and-file donors lean Democratic and none of them appear to have given to Trump. Its founder’s private companies give exclusively to Republicans, but also not to Trump himself.
Plank’s Exit From Trump’s Manufacturing Council
Plank had joined President Trump’s American Manufacturing Council in late January 2017.9Forbes. Kevin Plank Follows Ken Frazier and Quits President Trump’s Manufacturing Council After white supremacist violence in Charlottesville in August 2017 and the president’s initial response, Plank resigned. His statement: “Under Armour engages in innovation and sports, not politics.”10CNBC. Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank Says He Is Leaving Trump’s Manufacturing Council He followed Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier, who had resigned earlier the same day.11PBS NewsHour. Merck, Under Armour CEOs Step Down From Trump Business Panel
Trump criticized the departing CEOs on Twitter, and Trump supporters started their own boycott of Under Armour.12Bloomberg. Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank Just Can’t Escape Trump Plank had by then been boycotted from both sides in the span of six months.
Under Armour in Trump’s Second Term
Plank stepped down as CEO in 2019 and returned to the top job in April 2024, replacing Stephanie Linnartz.13Under Armour. Under Armour Announces Leadership Transition Since Trump’s return to the White House, two threads have shaped the company’s political footprint: its diversity language and the tariffs.
On the diversity side, Under Armour rebranded its “DEI” webpage as “Culture” and has not updated its workforce representation data since 2022. It scored 85 on the 2025 Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index, with points deducted for limited LGBTQ+ programming and public engagement.14SGI Europe. Sporting Goods Brands Quietly Retreat From DEI Messaging The company still references “diversity, equity and inclusion” on its Culture page and maintains employee resource groups.15Under Armour. Culture The softening of the label tracks with the broader corporate response to Trump’s executive orders targeting DEI programs, but Under Armour has not stated a political position on those orders.
On tariffs, the administration’s trade policies have cost the company. With roughly 30% of its merchandise sourced from Vietnam as of mid-2025, Under Armour faced a 20% tariff on Vietnamese goods and steeper duties on trans-shipped items. Plank told analysts the company expected $100 million in additional tariff costs, roughly half of its projected annual profitability. Under Armour raised prices on certain products and cut the number of items it sells in response. Plank framed the changes as part of a transformation he wanted to make anyway: “we’d be doing this anyway.”16Retail Dive. Tariffs Halve Under Armour Profitability The company has not publicly criticized or endorsed the tariff policies.17Politico. Trump’s Tariff Costs for Consumers
The Short Answer
Under Armour has never formally endorsed Donald Trump, has no corporate PAC, and has not been recorded donating to him. Its CEO praised him once in 2017, took it back after backlash, and quit his manufacturing council months later. Plank’s private companies give to Republicans; Under Armour’s employees give mostly to Democrats. In 2025, the company adjusted its diversity language and absorbed a large tariff hit without taking a public political stance on either. If a searcher is trying to decide whether buying Under Armour amounts to supporting Trump, the record does not show a corporate alignment with him. What it shows is a founder whose personal politics tilt right and a company that keeps trying, unevenly, to stay off the political scoreboard.