Sports
Trump to preside over historic sporting events: Which teams and stars could skip White House visits?
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
Donald Trump waves to the crowd at Bryant-Denny Stadium during the Alabama-Georgia game in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Sept. 28, 2024. (Gary Cosby Jr.-Imagn Images)
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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Sports
NBA player calls for Hawks to cancel their ‘Magic City’ strip club promotional night out of respect for women
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An NBA player has taken exception to an Atlanta Hawks promotional night, which is a nod to a famed strip club in the city.
The Hawks have “Magic City Night” scheduled for March 16 against the Orlando Magic, but a player for neither team isn’t too fond of paying tribute to a strip club, which has been famed for its late-night stories involving athletes, celebrities and more.
While the Hawks call it an ode to a “cultural institution,” San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet shared his displeasure in a letter posted on Medium.
Luke Kornet of the San Antonio Spurs reaches for the ball during the third quarter against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on Feb. 26, 2026 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Ishika Samant/Getty Images)
Kornet, a nine-year veteran and 2024 NBA champion with the Boston Celtics, called for the Hawks’ promotional night to be canceled later this month, saying that it is disrespectful to women to honor the strip club.
“In its press release, the Hawks failed to acknowledge that this place is, as the business itself boasts, “Atlanta’s premier strip club.” Given this fact, I would like to respectfully ask that the Atlanta Hawks cancel this promotional night with Magic City,” Kornet wrote in his post.
“The NBA should desire to protect and esteem women, many of whom work diligently every day to make this the best basketball league in the world. We should promote an atmosphere that is protective and respectful of the daughters, wives, sisters, mothers, and partners that we know and love.”
The Hawks boasted about the theme night in its press release, including a live performance by famous Atlanta rapper T.I., a co-branded, limited-edition hoodie and even the establishment’s “World Famous” lemon-pepper chicken wings in the arena.
A general view of signage with the State Farm Arena logo on Nov. 14, 2025, outside State Farm Arena, in Atlanta, GA. (Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire)
“This collaboration and theme night is very meaningful to me after all the work that we did to put together ’Magic City: An American Fantasy’,” said Hawks principal owner, filmmaker and actor, Jami Gertz, said in a press release. “The iconic Atlanta institution has made such an incredible impact on our city and its unique culture.”
Kornet wrote that allowing the night to continue “without protest would reflect poorly on us as an NBA community, “specifically in being complicit in the potential objectification and mistreatment of women in our society.”
Kornet wrote that “others throughout the league” were surprised by the Hawks’ decision to have this promotional night.
“We desire to provide an environment where fans of all ages can safely come and enjoy the game of basketball and where we can celebrate the history and culture of communities in good conscience. The celebration of a strip club is not conduct aligned with that vision,” he wrote.
Luke Kornet of the San Antonio Spurs defends against the Charlotte Hornets during their game at Spectrum Center on Jan. 31, 2026 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)
The Hawks have seen good reception for the promotional night, as Tick Pick reported a get-in price was initially $10 for the game and has since skyrocketed to $94.
Kornet is in his first season with the Spurs, his sixth NBA team, where he has played mainly in a bench role. He averages 7.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game across 50 contests.
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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — How do you improve on the perfect ending?
Clayton Kershaw stood in the desert heat Monday, wearing a far darker shade of blue than the Dodgers do. He does not need a medal, or a chance to fail. His election to the Hall of Fame will be a formality.
In his farewell year, the Dodgers won the World Series, becoming baseball’s first back-to-back champions in 25 years. He secured a critical out. He bathed in adoration at the championship rally, and he told the fans he would be one of them this year.
“I’m going to watch,” he hollered that day, “just like all of you.”
Four months later, he was back in uniform.
He wore a dark blue jersey with red-and-white piping. As Team USA ran through its first World Baseball Classic workout, Kershaw participated in pitchers’ fielding practice and shagged fly balls during batting practice. He could have been home with his five kids, and instead he was rushing off the mound to take a throw at first base.
That November night in Toronto, as it turned out, was not the last time we would see him in uniform.
“Feels good,” he said Monday. “I wouldn’t put on a uniform for anything else. This is a special thing.”
He put the World Baseball Classic into red, white and blue perspective.
“It’s a bucket list thing for me,” he said.
He is either self-deprecating or painfully honest about his capabilities right now, or perhaps a little of both.
The last World Baseball Classic came down to Shohei Ohtani pitching to Mike Trout. This one could come down to Kershaw pitching to Ohtani.
“I think, for our country’s sake, it’s probably better if I don’t,” Kershaw said.
Former Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw fields a ground ball during a workout at Papago Park Sports Complex on Monday.
(Chris Coduto / Getty Images)
Never say never. Team USA planned to run a tremendous rotation of Tarik Skubal, Paul Skenes, Joe Ryan and Logan Webb, but now Skubal says he will pitch just once in the tournament. Skenes says he’ll pitch twice. Ryan says he won’t pitch in the first round, at least.
Kershaw might be needed beyond the role he was promised: save the team from using the current major league pitchers in blowouts or extra innings.
In 11 career at-bats against Kershaw, Ohtani has no hits. Kershaw won’t duck the assignment if gets it, but he considers it so unlikely he is happy to share his game plan publicly.
“It’s throw it, pitch away, play away, hope he flies out to left,” Kershaw said. “Don’t throw it in his barrel.
“I can’t imagine, if it comes down to USA versus Japan, with the arms that we have, that I’ll be needed. But I’ll be ready.”
Kershaw’s average fastball velocity dropped to 89 mph last season, but he led the majors in winning percentage. He could eat innings for some team — maybe even the Dodgers, with Blake Snell and Gavin Stone all but certain to be unavailable on opening day.
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, right, celebrates with teammates after the Dodgers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays for the 2025 World Series title.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
But, even with his success last year and even with the joy of wearing a uniform once again, he insists he isn’t interested in pitching beyond the WBC.
“I don’t want to,” he said. “You can’t end it better than I did last year. I had a great time last year. It was an absolute blast and honor to be on that team. I think that was the perfect way to end it. Honestly, I don’t know if I would have enough in the tank to pitch for a full season again. I’m really at peace with that decision.
“This is kind of a weird one-off thing, but you can’t really turn down this opportunity. It wasn’t easy to get ready for this, with no motivation for a season, but I actually am in a pretty good spot with my arm. I’ll be fine. If they need me, I’ll be ready.”
Kershaw said he has kept in touch with his old Dodgers teammates, with some connecting on video calls from the weight room or clubhouse at Camelback Ranch. He arrived in the Phoenix area two days before the workout, but he skipped a trip to Camelback Ranch.
“I’ve thought about it,” he said. “I miss the guys. I think it’s probably just better, at least for this first year, for me mentally to just stay away, just for spring training.”
Kershaw said he would be at Dodger Stadium for the championship ring ceremony March 27.
He is content with what he calls “Dad life.” He and his wife, Ellen, just welcomed their fifth child, and Dad life includes lots of shuttles to baseball and basketball practice.
“I run an Uber service,” Kershaw said.
This wouldn’t be a Dodgers story these days without some reference to the team’s big spending so, for what it’s worth, Kershaw spent some time Tuesday chatting with Skubal, who will be the grand prize on the free-agent market next winter, or whenever the likely lockout might end.
That’s a rational explanation, Kershaw says, for Skubal pitching just once in the WBC.
“Everybody knows the situation he is in, contract-wise,” Kershaw said. “Any innings we can get out of him is a huge bonus to this team. He’s great. Super competitive. We’re honored to have him.”
Should we assume Skubal will be pitching for the Dodgers next season? Kershaw laughed.
“No comment,” he said, then walked away to get ready for the first game of his post-retirement life.
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Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley sounded off on the frenzied reactions to the U.S. men’s hockey team getting invited to the White House by President Donald Trump.
Trump talked to the Olympic gold medal-winning team immediately after they defeated Canada in overtime last weekend. He said they would be invited to his State of the Union address and added that he needed to invite the women’s team as well or he would be “impeached.”
Charles Barkley sits courtside against the Minnesota Timberwolves during an NBA Cup game at Mortgage Matchup Center on Nov. 21, 2025. (Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)
Trump critics took the joke as a shot at the women’s team, which sparked questions from NHL and Professional Women’s Hockey League reporters as the players returned to their respective club teams.
“I’m proud of the United States men. I’m proud of the United States women. You should have invited both of them to the White House, but it shouldn’t have been disrespect, misogyny,” Barkley said on the “Steam Room” podcast. “Like, yo, man, why do y’all have to mess everything up? Everything isn’t Democrat, Republican, conservative, liberal. That’s why we got this divided, screwed up country. Stop it man. Because, you know, the public, they’re idiots. They’re fools. They can’t think for themselves. I know y’all say stuff to trigger them. Y’all say stuff and y’all know they’re going to be fools.”
Barkley lamented that the average person would get riled up over the supposed controversy.
The U.S. team poses for a group photo after defeating Canada in the men’s ice hockey gold medal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Milan, Italy, on Feb. 22, 2026. (Luca Bruno/AP Photo)
“We don’t have to fall for stupidity. But we do – that’s my point. These people out here are stupid. They need something to trigger them. Just because they want us to be stupid. We don’t have to be stupid. He should have invited both teams to the White House. Simple as that. Guys who didn’t want to go shouldn’t have to explain why they didn’t go.”
The former Philadelphia 76ers, Houston Rockets and Phoenix Suns star made clear he would go to the White House regardless of whether Trump was in office.
“I’ve said this before, I’m not a Trump guy. But if I got invited to the White House, I would go. I’m not a Trump guy – I want to make that clear. But I respect the office,” Barkley said. “He’s the president of the United States. But if guys don’t want to go, I understand that too. It doesn’t have to be a talking point. It doesn’t have to be un-American.
Megan Keller (5) celebrates with a flag alongside Cayla Barnes (3) of Team United States after scoring the game-winning goal in overtime during the women’s gold medal match against Canada on Day 13 of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Milan Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena in Milan, Italy, on Feb. 19, 2026. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
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“I just wish y’all would stop falling for the stupidity.”
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