Donald Trump’s second term will be a historic four years for sports. 

The entire world will turn its eyes to the U.S. as it hosts a World Cup and a Summer Olympics in a single presidential term. 

And for sports in America, Trump’s controversial standing among many of the country’s biggest stars and figures could burn even hotter than it did four years ago.

Here’s a look at all the sports history that will come under a political and global microscope with Trump in the White House over the next four years.

The first college football national champion White House visit of the expanded playoff era

The 2024 college football season is the first in history with a 12-team playoff, and the first with a massive realignment in the sport’s most prominent conferences after a mass exodus of programs from the Pac-12. 

The first official championship will technically take place just days before Trump is inaugurated in January, but the champions’ White House visit will be one of the first of Trump’s second term.

Trump should expect respect from the sport’s coaches and stars. During Trump’s first term, and even during his recent campaign, college football has been the sport to embrace Trump the most unanimously in the U.S. His appearances at games, including multiple Army-Navy games in his first term and a Georgia-Alabama game in September, were met with rousing applause.

No college football national champion skipped a White House visit during Trump’s first term. Meanwhile, Georgia skipped a visit to President Biden’s White House in 2023.

And no notable college football coach has spoken out against Trump publicly, while many have spoken positively about the next president.

With 12 teams now in the college football playoff, it’s possible that in the next three years Trump’s White House could host the lowest-ranked team to ever win the national title, a potential American underdog story. 

Four WNBA seasons at the dawn of the Caitlin Clark era

Trump infamously declined to invite several major women’s basketball championship teams to the White House during his first term, including every WNBA champion.

Among those were the 2017 women’s college basketball champion South Carolina Gamecocks, the 2017 WNBA champion Minnesota Lynx and the 2018 women’s college basketball champion Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The 2018 WNBA champion Seattle Storm were not invited but made it clear they would not have attended the ceremony if they had.

The one time Trump’s White House ever hosted a women’s basketball team was the 2019 national champion Baylor Bears.

Angel Reese of LSU, right, and Caitlin Clark of Iowa (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images/File)

The reigning WNBA champion New York Liberty would be scheduled to visit Trump’s White House in May. However, it is possible they will not be invited or might not even attend if they are invited. Liberty star Breanna Stewart has been an activist for left-wing values and joined the protests against Trump’s travel ban in January 2017, shortly after he took office the first time. 

Meanwhile, 22-year-old superstar Caitlin Clark has brought a significant new spotlight to the sport since Trump was last in office, and Trump himself has complimented Clark and suggested she is underpaid during an interview on the “Let’s Go!” podcast. 

“She’s incredible, by the way,” Trump then said of Clark. “I’ve watched her. I think she’s incredible. The shot – I watch her shot go in, it’s like, could she shoot that way in the NBA? She’s unbelievable.”

It’s possible that Clark will lead the Indiana Fever to an WNBA title in the next three years, considering the rookie star led the team back to the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons. If that happens, then whether Clark and her teammates attend a Trump White House visit will be a cornerstone moment in the history of the WNBA and the future of its audience.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup

Trump will present the 2026 World Cup trophy after the final at MetLife Stadium in 2026. It was Trump’s first administration that made the bid to host the 2026 World Cup, and now he will preside over it when it happens. 

However, that deal was initially agreed upon with the understanding that Trump wouldn’t be president when the event took place amid concerns over the controversy he stirred in the global community. In a meeting with FIFA President Gianni Infantino at the White House in August 2018, Trump didn’t factor in the possibility of losing the 2020 election, which opened the door for him to run again four years later and thus return to office in time for the 2026 World Cup.

“2026, I won’t be here,” Trump said at the time, per the Associated Press.

Infantino nevertheless used his Instagram account to congratulate Trump even before his election victory early on Nov. 6. Infantino also recently moved to Miami, 70 miles south of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. FIFA even seems to have an open line of communication with Trump to talk through potential challenges, such as Iran’s probable qualification for the men’s World Cup and the political implications it may bring.

Whether the players on the field are as receptive to Trump in two years is a different question. But Trump may be spared an awkward trophy interaction with one of soccer’s biggest stars, based on past interactions, if one of the sport’s powerhouse countries prevails.

France superstar Kylian Mbappé, who led his country to the final for the second straight time in 2022 before losing to Lionel Messi and Argentina, once posed with Trump’s daughter and son-in-law; Mbappé posed for a photo with Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and the French star even put his arms around Trump’s grandchildren in the photo. 

However, Mbappé also went out of his way to speak out against his country’s right-wing presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen, in France’s election this year. Mbappé criticized Le Pen for her anti-immigration stances. 

Mbappé may well be the biggest star in all of soccer in 2026 at his current pace.

Four Super Bowls that could involve Taylor Swift’s boyfriend after Trump said he hates her

The Kansas City Chiefs could be in the last leg of their quest for a third straight Super Bowl when Trump is inaugurated in January. The Chiefs are currently undefeated and have the best odds in the league to make the big game.

If they pull it off, it would also earn the team its first Trump White House visit. They couldn’t make it during the summer of 2020 thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. Their last two championships have resulted in trips to Biden’s White House, where all notable players except for kicker Harrison Butker attended.

But tight end Travis Kelce would have his own dilemma if his team gets the job done and gets invited to Trump’s White House. Kelce’s girlfriend, pop star Taylor Swift, endorsed Trump’s Democrat opponent, Vice President Harris, in the recent election, and she has endorsed Democrats since 2018. But Swift’s endorsement of Harris prompted a hostile response from Trump himself when he wrote, “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT” on his Truth Social platform in September.

Kelce has not spoken about politics or the election at all in this year’s cycle. He was previously criticized by Aaron Rodgers for endorsing a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.

Meanwhile, family members of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes showed support for Trump in the recent election cycle. Mahomes’ mother officially endorsed Trump, and his wife, Brittany, liked multiple posts and comments on social media in support of Trump.

The Chiefs are the active dynasty of the NFL, and that could easily continue into Trump’s presidency, along with awkward White House invitations.

The only two NFL teams to get invitations to Trump’s White House during his first term were the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles. The Patriots accepted both invitations in 2017 and 2019. The Eagles’ visit was canceled, and the team released a statement saying it was in relation to Trump’s stance on players standing for the national anthem.

The Eagles are another team that could be in regular contention to win the Super Bowl throughout the rest of Trump’s second term, and if they do, a second White House invitation could incite a national controversy as it did the first time.

The 2028 Los Angeles Olympics

Like the 2026 World Cup, Trump had an active hand in America’s bidding to host the 2028 Olympics. And now he is set to preside over it in the final year of his second term.

However, cooperation with Trump has not been publicly embraced the same way with the International Olympic Committee as it has with FIFA.

IOC President Thomas Bach made one visit to the White House in June 2017 that is part of Olympic lore for how badly it went.

“Pray for our world,” Bach was heard to say on a cellphone call later that day in Washington, D.C.

The IOC has not yet acknowledged Trump’s presidential victory. Asked why there was no formal acknowledgment of Trump’s win last week, the IOC cited its tradition of neutrality and not taking political sides, according to the AP.

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Potential conflict between Trump and the IOC could arise over the issue of gender eligibility for athletes in women’s sports. Trump has pledged to ban trans athletes in women’s sports as part of his presidency, and he spoke out against the inclusion of boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting. Both of those boxers failed gender eligibility tests for previous international competitions.

However, the IOC has defended the inclusion of the boxers. More cases could arise by 2028; the United Nations says nearly 900 biological females have fallen short of the podium because they were beaten out by trans athletes.

The NBA at the twilight of LeBron James and Steph Curry’s careers

Not a single NBA champion attended a Trump White House visit during his first term.

LeBron James and Stephen Curry, the two players who dominated those four years, have lambasted Trump on multiple occasions while endorsing Democrat candidates. They both endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016, Biden in 2020 and Harris in 2024.

But both players are now coming to the end of their careers, and whether they will even have the opportunity to decline a Trump White House visit is no guarantee.

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Defense wins championships.

The Cleveland High boys’ water polo team proved that axiom true once again, limiting defending champion Palisades to one goal in the final three quarters of a 15-4 victory in the City Section Open Division final Wednesday night at Valley College.

Arman Tarakhchyan netted seven goals while Arthur Petrosian added four for the No. 2-seeded Cavaliers (17-9), who won their third section title and second in a row, having earned the inaugural Division I crown last season.

Cleveland ended Palisades’ string of 11 straight section titles and snapped the Dolphins’ streak of 43 straight City Section playoff victories. The last time they had lost a City playoff contest was in 2011 when they fell to Cleveland 14-3 in the quarterfinals.

“Our goal Allen McWeeny played a huge part in this — he came up with some huge saves — but from the second the game started we said we’re gonna figure out the guys they have and how to defend them,” Tarakhchyan said. “We knew about Charlie [Speiser] and had someone on him at all times. It was really just about slowing things down and playing Cleveland water polo.”

Scoring once each for the Cavaliers were Charlie Rinsky, Matias Ramirez and Gregory Dzhigneyan. Speiser and Hudson Mirzadeh scored twice apiece for the top-seeded Dolphins (12-17), who downed Cleveland in the finals twice during their dynastic run, prevailing 16-9 in 2019 and 22-7 in 2021.

The score was tied 3-3 after the first quarter, but the Cavaliers’ suffocating defense began to take hold in the second quarter as Cleveland scored three times to take a 6-2 lead into halftime. Petrosian scored twice on breakouts in the last 35 seconds of the third quarter to give Cleveland a commanding seven-goal lead.

“On a lot of our drives if I get a mismatch, I call for the ball,” added Tarakhchyan, who converted two of his three five-meter chances. “Our mindset is that its 0-0 after every quarter. We always play like we just started the game and never take our foot off the gas.”

Earlier, Granada Hills beat crosstown rival Kennedy 21-10 to win the Division I title — its first boys’ water polo title in school history.

Granada Hills’ Justin Villatoro scores against Kennedy in the Division I final.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Gor Mesropian led the way with five goals, Jason Bowden and Sebastian Villagrana had four apiece and One Abramian, Justin Villatoro, Levon Iochyan and Ethan Kilimnik each added two for the top-seeded Highlanders, who scored seven times in the first quarter and four straight goals to begin the second half.

Andrew Joyce scored five goals and Jorge Aguilar Gomez added three for the third-seeded Golden Cougars.

Cameron Heyward stared at the four-letter message projected on the screen, wondering what it all meant. As Mike Tomlin — the master of acronyms, and the most powerful force in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ universe — spoke passionately to his players about an upcoming opponent in a darkened meeting room late last month, the light began to go on in Heyward’s head.

He’s talking about ME.

The subject was Dexter Lawrence, the New York Giants’ two-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle. The subtext was Heyward, a 14th-year interior lineman and three-time All-Pro, who was about to set a franchise record for a defender by playing in his 202nd regular season game.

The acronym on the screen was “WGFO.”

“I was like, ‘What the hell is he talking about?’” Heyward recalled Monday. “And it was, ‘We Gonna Find Out.’”

Specifically, Tomlin was challenging Heyward to prove he could still play at as high a level as Lawrence, who was nine years his junior. And the 18th-year coach was doing it in his own inimitable way, mixing humor with cold, hard truths about the sport he loves.

“He finds ways to motivate every guy on this team,” Heyward says of Tomlin. “It’s about having a relationship with every man that walks into that locker room. Every day in practice he’s interacting with guys, and after practice he’s walking around the locker room doing it, too. He has relationships with everyone, and there’s less room for chaos because of that.”

Though Tomlin, the NFL’s longest-tenured head coach, is one of the most successful men in his profession, he also tends to be one of the least appreciated. Since taking over as Pittsburgh’s head coach in 2007, he has never had a losing season. Think about that — in a league designed to accentuate parity, the man hasn’t had a single bad year, with nearly two decades of sample size.

That’s crazier than a beloved establishment showcasing sandwiches with French fries and coleslaw.

Yet some Steelers fans, frustrated by Tomlin’s recent lack of playoff triumphs, continually complain about his perceived shortcomings.

Such gripes are typically met with eye-rolls in NFL circles, yet there’s a case to be made that Tomlin chronically gets less praise than he deserves. The 52-year-old has won a Super Bowl, two AFC championships and 188 combined regular season and postseason games, yet he has never been honored as the Associated Press NFL Coach of the Year.

That could change come February. Though there have been some stellar coaching jobs this season — by Matt LaFleur, Kevin O’Connell, Dan Campbell, Raheem Morris, Dan Quinn and others — Tomlin’s masterful touch in guiding the Steelers to a 7-2 record has been unparalleled.

To put it in terms he’d appreciate: Midway through the 2024 campaign, he’s my COTYSF (Coach of the Year So Far).

Mike Tomlin’s 173 wins rank 12th all-time in NFL history, the most of any coach to not win a Coach of the Year title since the award’s inception. (Photo: Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Tomlin has managed a potential quarterback controversy, overseen the installation of a new offense and helped reenergize a defense with five new starters (if you include nickel back Beanie Bishop Jr., an undrafted rookie). The Steelers may boast the NFL’s most effective special teams units, and their only two defeats (consecutive losses to the Indianapolis Colts and Dallas Cowboys) were by three-point margins.

They’ve prevailed in four other one-score games, including last Sunday’s stirring, 28-27 road victory over the 7-3 Washington Commanders.

Suddenly Pittsburgh, which has been one-and-done in its last four postseason appearances, appears formidable enough to compete with the AFC’s best teams.

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The Steelers will learn more about themselves Sunday when they host the 7-3 Baltimore Ravens, who trail them by half a game in the AFC North. Still, for the first time since Ben Roethlisberger retired in January 2022, they appear capable of winning big games without relying on their defense and special teams to carry them.

The biggest reason for the Steelers’ success? Well, there are two big ones. Tomlin’s got cojones. Unlike so many of his coaching contemporaries, he’s not afraid to go with his instincts, shoot his shot and live with the consequences if he misses.

He’s a risk-taker, and his players vibe on that.

Sunday’s victory over the Commanders was like a sizzle reel for Tomlin’s COTYSF candidacy. The Steelers led 7-0 when, with 5:16 left in the first quarter, they tried a fake punt on fourth-and-15 from their own 16. The play caught the Commanders by surprise but failed when one defensive back (upback Miles Killebrew) was unable to complete a pass to another (James Pierre, who couldn’t handle the throw).

Three plays later, Austin Ekeler’s 1-yard touchdown run tied the game. Tomlin didn’t trip, saying afterward, “That is me. I own that, but I’d do it again.”

The Steelers fought back from a 24-14 deficit and won on a late touchdown when Russell Wilson, on third-and-9 from the Washington 32, completed a high-arc deep ball to Mike Williams, who’d been acquired in a trade five days earlier and had never practiced the route.

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On paper, it was somewhat preposterous. In real life, it was glorious. And it would never have happened without Tomlin’s conviction.

Beginning last spring, Tomlin’s faith in Wilson has been perplexing to many people inside and outside of the organization, in light of the way the former Seattle Seahawks star had seemingly regressed in recent years.

Wilson, 35, struggled mightily after being traded to the Denver Broncos after the 2021 season. He seemed to have lost a step — at least a step — and to possess far less field awareness than in previous seasons.

Last December, Broncos coach Sean Payton benched Wilson — with his team still technically in playoff contention — to avoid the financial ramifications of a possible injury. Given Payton’s reputation as an offensive guru, it was perceived by many of his peers as an irrevocable indictment of Wilson’s abilities.

Tomlin saw it differently. When Wilson, released by the Broncos, became a free agent in March, the Steelers quickly signed him as the successor to Kenny Pickett, a failed 2022 first-round draft pick.

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Days later, they swung a trade with the Chicago Bears to acquire Justin Fields, the 11th pick in the 2021 draft. From that moment, skepticism swirled. Many NFL coaches and talent evaluators speculated that Wilson wouldn’t win the starting job, even as Tomlin insisted he’d go into training camp No. 1 on the depth chart.

When a calf injury essentially derailed Wilson’s preseason — and lingered into October — Fields seized his opening. His speed and mobility helped new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith conceive an attack that created favorable matchups for Pittsburgh’s running game. By the time Wilson was fully healthy, the Steelers were 4-2 and coming off a 32-13 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.

Virtually no one thought Tomlin should make a change. Roethlisberger, on his “Footbahlin” podcast, said after that victory, “All in all, I would absolutely not even think about taking (Fields) out of the game right now.” That was the prevailing sentiment inside the Steelers’ organization, too.

Tomlin decided otherwise, intent in his belief that Wilson — who won one Super Bowl and came within a yard of winning a second — still possessed the elite qualities that could potentially help the Steelers elevate in the postseason. “I’m not trying to win games,” Tomlin told Fox’s Jay Glazer. “I’m trying to win a world title here. I gotta see what I’ve got in both.”

Mike Tomlin went out on a limb to insert Russell Wilson into the starting lineup. The decision has paid dividends so far. (Charles LeClaire / Imagn Images)

Because of that, Tomlin told Glazer, he “went Lone Ranger” and made the move.

One big difference: The Lone Ranger wore a mask. Tomlin laid bare his intentions and mindset to all parties concerned.

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Inside the locker room, there was no grumbling or second-guessing. Tomlin, who has habitually gotten the most out of strong (and sometimes prickly) personalities — former stars Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell and current receiver George Pickens are some obvious examples — sold the move in a manner that some of his mealy-mouthed peers would be wise to emulate.

“All three guys — Justin, Russ and Mike — handled it with complete class,” Heyward said. “(Tomlin) said, ‘We’re gonna see what happens, but we will not be forgetting what Justin did, nor will we think Justin’s just gonna be someone who gets lost in the shuffle. It’s a long season and we will see what happens.’”

Here’s what has happened so far: The Steelers are 3-0 with Wilson at quarterback. He has thrown six touchdown passes and one interception, and Pittsburgh has averaged 30.7 points per game in those starts. The Lone Ranger is riding high.

Then again, the schedule gets tougher now, with two games against the Ravens and clashes with the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs among the tests awaiting Tomlin’s team.

Can the Steelers meet the challenge — and win a playoff game (or more than one) for the first time in eight seasons?

As Tomlin would say, WGFO.

(Top photo: Patrick Smith / Getty Images)