Trump will be the first president to attend the Super Bowl while in office.

Image caption: Donald Trump will travel to New Orleans, Louisiana, for Sunday’s Super Bowl.Details of the article

This coming weekend, Donald Trump will become the first American president to attend the Super Bowl while in office.

On Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles will play the Kansas City Chiefs at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.

On New Year’s Day, a terror attack on Bourbon Street left 14 people dead, leaving the city in ruins.

Trump is in his second term in office after being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States in January.

No sitting president has ever attended the event, despite former presidents like Ronald Reagan tossing the coin from the White House before a game.

“Security measures have been further enhanced this year, given that this will be the first time a sitting president of the United States will attend the event,” revealed Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the Secret Service.

“The biggest homeland security event that we do every year” is how US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem described the Super Bowl earlier this week.

Given his remarks regarding the NFL throughout his political career, Trump’s attendance is probably going to be contentious.

Trump has questioned the patriotism of NFL players who kneel when the US national anthem is played. Trump is a vocal opponent of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

The purpose of the taking of the knee movement was to raise awareness of racial injustice in the US.

In the end zone, Sunday’s Super Bowl will feature a “Choose Love” message instead of the “End Racism” message for the first time in four years.

Trump has criticized nondiscriminatory hiring practices that increase workplace diversity since he took office.

The NFL disputes that the current political atmosphere has anything to do with the decision to take down the banners calling for an end to racism.

“The NFL is in a unique position to capture and lift the imagination of the country,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told AFP, adding that the Super Bowl is frequently a snapshot in time.

“Choose love is appropriate to use as our country has endured in recent weeks wildfires in southern California, the terrorist attack here in New Orleans, the plane and helicopter crash near our nation’s capital and the plane crash in Philadelphia.”

Meanwhile, according to Goodell, the NFL is still totally dedicated to advancing diversity through its inclusive hiring procedures.

“I think we’ve proven to ourselves that it does make the NFL better,” Goodell stated.

“We are not involved in this because it is a trend to enter or exit the market. Our efforts are essential in our pursuit of luring the NFL’s top players, both on and off the field.

The Super Bowl and US presidents

The Super Bowl has grown to be the most anticipated event on the American sports calendar since it began in 1967.

With 123.4 million viewers, last year’s Super Bowl, in which the Kansas City Chiefs defended their title, was the largest US TV broadcast since the moon landing in 1969.

It is hardly surprising that politicians are now more prominent in the event’s staging given its impact on American culture.

In 2017, George Bush became the first former president to personally attend the coin toss prior to Super Bowl 51 in Houston.

President Ronald Reagan conducted the coin toss from the White House via satellite in 1985.

In 2004, former President George W. Bush established a Super Bowl custom by giving the official broadcaster a pre-game interview.

Before he left office in 2025, Joe Biden refused to do an interview for the second consecutive year, although Barack Obama carried on the tradition.