Could Donald Trump's appearance at Army-Navy be his final sporting event as president?
Throughout his presidency, Donald Trump has used college football as a forum to rally his base. He’s appeared at multiple national championship games and went to last year’s marquee regular season event when LSU played at Alabama. On Saturday, he appeared at his third consecutive game between Army and Navy.
Amid a politically divided country, Trump has remained undefeated in college football stadiums for waves of warm cheers and overwhelming receptions.
With the final days of his presidency dwindling and Trump’s attempts to overturn the election results colliding with legal resistance equivalent to the 1985 Bears defense, Trump returned to college football for one final rousing applause on Saturday afternoon.
The public appearance in West Point for Army-Navy marked just his second trip outside of Washington D.C. since the election, not counting trips to Camp David or rounds of golf. (This is according to former CBS News reporter Mark Knoller, a longtime chronicler of presidential movement.)
Trump walked out onto the field prior to the game and pumped his fist to the rousing cheers from both the cadets and midshipmen in the stands. He also stood at midfield for the coin flip and wished good luck to the captains of both sides. He was scheduled to watch the first half with the Army cadets in the stands and the second half with the Navy midshipmen. He was also expected to take a break to do an interview on Fox News.
The game took place at West Point, the first time since 1943 that Michie Stadium, Army’s historic bandbox, hosted the Navy game.
“Everything he’s done in athletics and touched in sports has been with a nod to his cultural and demographic base,” said Mark Braden, a Tennessee-based Republican strategist with deep experience across the South. “His embrace of college football especially, has been understanding the ties that bind in the South and the Midwest.”
With about six weeks remaining in his presidency, the possibility looms that this could be President Trump’s last in-office appearance at a major sport event. It’s arguable over his presidency that he’s resonated most in college football. (This marks his fourth overall trip to Army-Navy, as he attended the game in 2016 as the president-elect.)
The sporting piece of Trump’s presidency has included antagonizing the NFL, ostracizing the stars of the NBA and getting booed at the World Series. He villainized former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, sparred with the U.S. women’s national soccer team and reportedly played more than 300 rounds of golf. Some athletes have proudly declared they won’t participate in the traditional trips to the White House, and those that did go were treated with curious food choices.
In college football, Trump has arguably been more consistently adored than any of his other sporting efforts. He even inserted himself into the effort to revive the Big Ten’s season, although his efforts appear to have been more theatric and self-congratulatory than ultimately effective. (No Big Ten officials publicly credited his role, certainly not to the degree that Trump credited himself.)
“He’s just a polarizing figure,” said James Carville, the longtime Democratic political operative and commentator. “You get a stadium full of fans in the South, he’ll do better. I guess college football was probably the most welcoming sport he had.”
The only other major events that would appear to appeal to Trump’s sporting sensibilities are the SEC championship next week and the College Football Playoff, as he’s attended two CFP title games during his presidency. But there’s been no indications from the White House that he’d appear at either of those events.
Once again on Saturday, Trump clearly relished the cheers from college football. As he clapped his hands and nodded his head confidently to the warm reaction today at Michie Stadium, it could be the final sporting snapshot of the Trump presidency.
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