Donald Trump The Most Sports-Minded President In Memory, Perhaps Ever In U.S. History
NEW ORLEANS – The news that President Donald Trump will be at Super Bowl LIX on Sunday, becoming the first sitting president to attend the NFL's biggest game, probably shouldn't have been all that surprising.
Because Trump is the most sports-minded president in memory.
And perhaps ever.
Trump is a killer of a competitor, so his attraction to sports is natural and, pardon the pun, unimpeachably strong.
You name the sport, Trump has been interested or involved.
ATLANTIC CITY, NJ - JUNE 24: Boxer Sugar Ray Leonard Businessman Donald Trump and Boxing Promoter Don King at Tyson vs Spinks weigh in at Trump Plaza Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey June 24 1988. (Photo by Jeffrey Asher/ Getty Images)
Deep Sports Ties Reach Everywhere
Golf, pro and college football, UFC, boxing, and more. Trump is often in the stands, on the course, in the seats or even owning the team – or trying to.
Golf? Are you kidding?
Trump plays it, roasted Slurring Joe in a debate about their comparative games, and he's currently involved in a reunification attempt that perhaps only he could broker:
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and Adam Scott, a Player Director on the PGA Tour's Policy Board, met with Trump in the White House this week, the PGA Tour announced.
Monahan, Scott and Tiger Woods released a joint statement discussing the meeting, in which they asked Trump to get involved for the good of the game and try to get a unification of professional golf between the PGA and LIV closer to the finish line.
Trump owns multiple golf courses and has hosted tournaments, including at Trump National Doral, Bedminster, Washington D.C., and West Palm Beach.
To say Trump owns golf clubs hits different than when we say that about the rest of us, because we own sticks while the President owns actual brick and mortar golf clubs.
Football Part Of Trump's Legacy
Trump is a huge football fan.
Yuge!
The NFL reportedly didn't embrace bids from him to buy different teams multiple times, but he owned the New Jersey Generals of the USFL, and that's when he became very close friends with stars such as Doug Flutie and Herschel Walker, whom Trump endorsed during a U.S. senate run in 2022.
The Generals were 14-4 the first season Trump owned the team and then had an 11-7 season in their and the league's final season.
Trump's franchise ownership days are long over, but he's embraced the sport. And he's used the sport to his benefit and enjoyment.
Ames, Iowa - September 9 : Former President Donald Trump waves to the crowds before the start of a NCAA college football game between Iowa State University and the University of Iowa at Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday, Sept 09, 2023, in Ames, Iowa. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Trump Attends Games Regularly
He's notably attended multiple college and pro games, including Army-Navy games, college football season games inside and outside the SEC, and college football playoff games.
Trump's attendance at the matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles should be an interesting experience but also potentially uplifting because New Orleans needs the boost.
You'll recall this is a city that suffered a terrorist attack on Jan. 1. That cannot be good for tourism.
But when the President decides the city is safe enough to visit and attend a football game there, that sends a message that amplifies the one being sent by the NFL's title game being played there as well.
There's little doubt Trump's interest in sports has helped shape part of his policy and national opinion.
Herschel Walker, NJ Generals Running Back, looks on as Donald Trump, JJ Generals Owner; makes the announcement of a new contract for Herschel Walker through the 1989 season; during a press conference held at Giants Stadium. (Photo by Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)
Some Trump Policies Affect Sports
He obviously saw NFL players kneel during the national anthem starting in 2016 and into 2017 and 2018. He criticized the practice in Trumpian terms. And, no, players didn't like the criticism.
He also obviously witnessed biological males playing in woman's sports the past couple of years and, like a large majority of Americans and roughly 7.000 female athletes, has wanted men to play against men.
So one of the first executive orders the Trump administration signed was the "No Men in Women's Sports" order. On Thursday, Trump said the Olympics Committee should implement policy restricting women's sports competitions to athletes born female only.
Trump campaigned on the issue and, sports or not, he is following through.
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Other Presidents Loved Sports
There have been other presidents that loved sports or considered themselves sportsmen. Abraham Lincoln was a great wrestler, Theodore Roosevelt boxed, and Dwight D. Eisenhower played football at West Point.
Ronald Reagan, meanwhile, played a Notre Dame football player during his acting career and the player's nickname carried over the entire rest of his life: The Gipper.
But none used sports as campaign stops. None owned sports teams or turned relationships nurtured by sports into lifelong political alliances.
The most sports-minded president in memory did that.