Jordon Hudson, Bill Belichick's girlfriend, wants Trump to love Maine fishermen

Spoiler alert: he never will

Thank you so much for reading The Wilder Things. If you’ve enjoyed this newsletter so far, please consider becoming a paid subscriber! $5 a month gets you every single newsletter, the ability to comment, and access to the archives. I am so grateful for your support.

Please also consider subscribing to The Sports Gossip Show on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube.

I need to tell you a story about lobstering in Maine that is tangled up with the sports world in the most bizarre way possible. It’s a MadLib I couldn’t even have made up five years ago, and things were already pretty messed up then.

Here it is: Jordon Hudson, the 24-year-old girlfriend of the 72-year-old football coach Bill Belichick, is begging president Donald Trump on Instagram to restore federal funding to Maine lobstermen after he retaliated against the Maine governor over the issue of transgender athletes in sports.

Trump took money away from Maine lobstermen after he called out Janet Mills, the Democratic governor of Maine, about whether she’d comply with his recent executive order to ban transgender athletes from girls sports. Mills said, “See you in court.” Here’s a primer from the ACLU on why that ban is harmful for everybody.

A few days later, the Trump administration pulled federal funding for The Maine Sea Grant, which would eliminate $1.5 million in funding this year, $4.5 million through January 2028, and affect 20 Sea Grant workers at the University of Maine in Orono and fishing villages across the state.

Hudson was at the Maine Fishermen’s Forum in Rockport, Maine, when the news broke. She posted a carousel of photos from the event, as well as illustrations from the Dr. Suess book The Lorax. Her caption starts off like this:

“Dear @potus @whitehouse,

“I am Jordon and I speak for the fishermen. I speak for the fishermen because the fishermen have no voice.”

She goes on:

“The news came like a tsunami to the Forum on Saturday that the federal funding program ‘Maine sea Grant’, was abruptly cut. This program has been a pillar of support for marine research, sustainability, and economic growth for more than 50 years. The forum floors filled with tears and fears as if everyone were drowning, and we were.”

This week, Hudson has also posted several glamour shots of herself with the caption, “But do you love the fishermen?? @potus”

Hudson’s family is from Hancock, which is considered Downeast Maine, and Maine is a big part of her brand. She says she can trace her lobstering roots back nine generations, and she’s clearly passionate about the fishing industry and the state. She carried a lobster-shaped purse to the Super Bowl last month to “draw attention to Maine fishermen.” She’s a former cheerleader and beauty pageant contestant who is a self-described “philosopher.” She often uses big words in Instagram captions that don’t make sense. She says she’s working on a documentary about lobstering.

People in the football world have reported that Hudson is acting as Belichick’s de-facto manager. My co-host of The Sports Gossip Show, Madeline Hill, and I have suspected for a while that this is the case. Hudson has inserted herself into every aspect of Belichick’s life. She seems to have convinced him to get on social media, has posted incessantly about his decision to coach at the University of North Carolina, has appeared in a Dunkin’ Super Bowl ad with him, and has worn outfits in public designed to get her photographed.

Belichick’s famously gruff and distant personality seems to have changed since he’s been with her; he’s showing up in public more, making jokes during media appearances, and using exclamations in his Instagram captions (that we think she is ghostwriting). He dressed up for Halloween, for crying out loud. Ironically, he was a fisherman, and she was a mermaid he’d caught.

Source: Jordon’s Instagram.

Of course I’m locked into this story — a young woman publicly dating the former coach of the Patriots, my favorite NFL team? I’m particularly invested, however, because both sides of my family have lived in mid-coast Maine for over seven decades. Some of us were born there, and those of us who weren’t will technically always be “from away.” But it feels the most like home to me.

I went to college in Maine, and I’ve reported on the state for as long as I’ve been working in journalism. I wrote about Sadie Samuels, one of the few women who fishes in the state, and the lobster boat races in Jonesport. I spent time inland, where many of the lobstermen live (having been priced out of coastal property), to cover the Demolition Derby in Union. I have friends who’ve fished in Maine for generations.

In 2021, the lobstering industry contributed $725 million to Maine’s economy. It’s one of the oldest industries in the country, and it’s responsible for over 18,000 jobs on land and sea in the state. There are lots of reasons to worry about it — the work force is mostly over the age of 40, and many of the state’s younger residents don’t see fishing as a viable way of life anymore. The cost of gear and fuel is rising. The balance of how the state and federal government protect peoples’ livelihoods, while making sure the correct regulations are in place to prevent overfishing, is constantly in flux. The most existential problem is that the Gulf of Maine is warming faster than almost 99% of all other ocean surfaces on the planet.

Federal funding is essential to help lobstermen weather these storms; it must be restored. Hudson most likely thinks she’s using her platform for good in calling Trump out for this, and maybe she is. But it all seems too little, too late. Last year, Hudson posted a photo of a lawn sign supporting election-denier and Trump-supporter Heather Sprague for the Maine House of Representatives. Sprague’s X account is riddled with conspiracy theories. The Republican party also doesn’t generally support environmental measures that could protect fishermen’s livelihoods.

Hudson also posted pictures from the Fishermen’s Forum with Republican senator Susan Collins, who last year said she was “very impressed with [Elon Musk’s] energy and dedication.” Musk is the billionaire who is the driving force behind budget cuts across the federal government (all while his company, Tesla, paid zero federal income taxes in 2024).

Hudson’s boyfriend also happens to be good friends with Trump. In 2016, Belichick wrote a letter of support to Trump that Trump read at a rally the day before the election in New Hampshire. Last year, Belichick hosted Trump on his podcast a few days before the election. You’d think if Hudson really wanted to get in touch with the president, she could do so. Perhaps she’s tried and realized he doesn’t give a shit.

Maybe it’s never too late to speak up for what’s right. However, given Hudson’s connections to Trump and people who support him, her earnest post begging him to restore funding reads like that one scene from I Think You Should Leave. A guy drives a hot dog car through a building and then gets out wearing a hot dog suit. He stands there and looks at the car and yells, “We’re all trying to find the guy who did this!” Jordon seems to be pretty close with people who were in the car, too.

It takes a lot of hubris to say, “I speak for the fishermen, for the fishermen have no voice.” It’s also easy to answer the question Hudson posed on Instagram a few days ago: No, Donald Trump does not love the fishermen. And he never will.