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President Trump will be at the FIFA World Cup draw later today in Washington, D.C. It is a big deal for people around the world and also for the editor on our staff, who is a Scotsman. For Trump, it's just the latest example of the president popping up at major men's sporting events. And in this case, he may even be handed a newly created FIFA Peace Prize. NPR senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith reports.
TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: Trump had been in office less than a month when he went to the Super Bowl, making him the first sitting president to attend the big game.
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KEITH: When Trump came up on the jumbotron during the national anthem, he was met with a mix of cheers and jeers. A week later, he was at the Daytona 500. Then there was the US Open, the Ryder Cup, two UFC matches in all, about a dozen major sporting events so far this year. He even went into the Fox Broadcast booth during a Washington Commanders game.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I think this is a very important couple of plays.
UNIDENTIFIED SPORTSCASTER: Here we go. All right, second and seven.
TRUMP: Right, second and seven. Let's see what happens. Whoa.
KEITH: Trump was beamed into American living rooms for a good five minutes without a single question about politics or policy. Sporting events for this president are a combination of good fun and good publicity, a senior White House official tells NPR. Clips of him at these events go, quote, "insanely viral." Christine Brennan is a longtime sports columnist at USA Today.
CHRISTINE BRENNAN: He understands that sports are the common denominator of all common denominators in American society. And where can you reach people who otherwise might be unreachable? You reach them through sports.
KEITH: Brennan says Trump is the president in American history most associated with sports. Yes, President Obama was famous for filling out his NCAA bracket on TV. But Brennan says long before entering politics, Trump helped build his brand through sports. Boxing matches at his Atlantic City casinos, his USFL football team and even the short-lived Tour de Trump.
BRENNAN: Which I actually covered in 1989, a bike race.
KEITH: But in his first term, America's sports fan in chief antagonized athletes and the NFL. This was Trump at a 2017 rally in Alabama, wading in and stoking controversy over players kneeling for racial justice during the national anthem.
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TRUMP: Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say get that son of a b**** off the field right now, out, he's fired?
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KEITH: Brennan says that happened on a Friday night.
BRENNAN: And Sunday was by far the biggest protest that the NFL had seen in terms of athletes kneeling during the national anthem. So he truly was the enemy for many, many athletes and for the leagues. It was troublesome.
KEITH: In 2018, things were so bad, Trump canceled a White House celebration for the Super Bowl-winning Philadelphia Eagles because so few players wanted to attend. Seven years later, it was a love fest at the White House when Trump celebrated their latest Super Bowl win. Clay Travis is a Trump supporter and founder of the sports website OutKick.
CLAY TRAVIS: Sports has embraced President Trump for the second term in a way that it did not in the first term.
KEITH: He says look no further than professional athletes doing Trump's signature fist-pumping dance when they score. For a sports fan like Trump, it's a good time to be president. Next year, the U.S. is hosting the World Cup, and Trump is hosting a UFC fight night on the South Lawn of the White House. The NFL draft will be on the National Mall in 2027. And then the Olympics come to Los Angeles in 2028.
Tamara Keith, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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