Trump heads to Super Bowl with a complicated NFL relationship
Jeff Mason, Reuters
US president Donald Trump heads to the Super Bowl on Sunday, the first sitting president to do so in person, despite a complicated relationship with the National Football League and a controversial history mixing politics and sports.
Trump will watch the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles in the Superdome in New Orleans, where all eyes will be on the field and, no doubt some, on his reactions.
His visit, roughly three weeks after he launched his second term at the White House with executive orders to crack down on immigration and end government diversity programs, will put the Republican president at the scene of a classic American pastime that connects people of all political ideologies.
It also highlights the contrast between Trump's order to eliminate government diversity, equity and inclusion efforts with the NFL's decision to stick with its own initiatives to promote inclusion.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who could come into contact with Trump at the game, said on Monday he had no plans to scale back NFL diversity programmes.
The league is not putting the phrase "End Racism" behind one of the end zones, something it has done since 2021, replacing that directive with another one: "Choose Love."
During his first term in office Trump criticised the league and its members after Black players kneeled during the US national anthem to bring attention to racial injustice.
Last year, as a presidential candidate, Trump ran ads during football games blasting his Democratic opponent, former vice president Kamala Harris, for her stance on transgender rights. "Kamala's for they/them; President Trump is for you," the ad said.
It proved effective, and Trump has continued his crackdown on trans rights from the White House, last week signing an executive order seeking to exclude transgender girls and women from female sports.
He will be one of many celebrities at the game. Superstar singer Taylor Swift, who is dating Chiefs player Travis Kelce, is also expected to be in the stadium. She endorsed Harris in the 2024 election.