Trump Applauds Ike Perlmutter for Ditching Disney: ‘He Didn’t Want Woke Donald Duck’

President-elect Donald Trump praised Isaac “Ike” Perlmutter, the former chairman of Marvel Entertainment, during an event at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday night.

Trump shared with his supporters that Perlmutter had a remarkable journey, saying, “The guy went from being completely broke to owning Disney.” He added, “Then he got out of Disney because they went woke. He didn’t want woke Donald Duck, right?”

In 2023, Disney let Perlmutter go after his division was merged with other parts of the company as a cost-cutting measure. Earlier this year, Perlmutter sold all of his Disney stock—about 25.6 million shares—for nearly $3 billion.

He reportedly said that he thinks Disney’s stock will keep dropping, and if it falls to $65-$75 per share, he plans to buy back a lot of his stock.

In 2023, Disney and Marvel Studios had big problems. Most of their movies didn’t do well, and their TV shows got mixed reviews. Disney ended the year without a billion-dollar movie, and Marvel’s The Marvels became the lowest-grossing film in the MCU, not even making $100 million at the domestic box office. The movie lost $237 million, adding to Disney’s financial struggles.

CEO Bob Iger admitted that the company had invested too much in streaming and made too much content too quickly, which hurt the quality. He said the company’s structure lacked accountability, which led to a $4 billion loss in streaming. Iger has now said they will cut back on content and focus on making higher-quality work.

Some fans think Disney’s losses are partly because they’ve focused on projects that upset their main audiences, like superhero films focused on women, negative portrayals of men, and changing the race of classic characters.

In 2024, the company’s reputation improved with two of their highest-grossing movies making over $1 billion—Inside Out 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine. Moana 2 also made it onto the list, coming in at 4th place.

It looks like the company is recovering, especially with several upcoming Star Wars and Marvel Studios projects.

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