Donald Trump will become the first sitting US president to attend the Super Bowl when he watches Sunday’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles in New Orleans.
A White House official confirmed Trump’s decision to the Associated Press on Tuesday. Sitting US vice-presidents, including Al Gore and George HW Bush, have attended Super Bowls in the past.
Trump will also sit down for a pre-recorded interview that will be aired on the pregame show for Fox, this year’s US broadcaster for the Super Bowl. Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, declined to sit down for a Super Bowl interview in 2023 and 2024, as did Trump in 2018, during his first term as president.
Trump is a keen sports fan and is often seen at golf tournaments and college football games. While he has been cheered at games, during his first term as president he was jeered and greeted with “lock him up” chants by Washington Nationals fans during an appearance at the 2019 World Series. Last weekend Canadian NBA and NHL fans booed the US national anthem as Trump threatened tariffs on US goods.
Trump has not said which team he will be supporting on Sunday, although it would not be a surprise if he goes for the Chiefs. The Eagles were disinvited from Trump’s White House in 2018 after their last Super Bowl victory, while several figures around the Chiefs, including kicker Harrison Butker and Brittany Mahomes, the wife of Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes, have aligned themselves with the Maga movement. Trump also congratulated the Chiefs when they reached the Super Bowl by beating the Buffalo Bills, a compliment he did not extend to the Eagles.
“Congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs,” Trump said on social media. “What a GREAT Team, Coach, Quarterback, and virtually everything else, including those fantastic FANS, that voted for me (MAGA!) in record numbers. Likewise, congratulations to the Buffalo Bills on a tremendous season. They will do a lot of winning long into the future!!!”
The decision comes as a turnaround in Trump’s relationship with the NFL. He devoted significant time to attacking the league in his first term after players began kneeling for the national anthem in protest against social and racial injustice.
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