President Donald Trump announced during an event at the White House on Thursday that he will attend the 126th Army-Navy Game, being held Dec. 13 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.
Trump revealed the news while conducting a Thanksgiving day teleconference with United States service members. Trump had just concluded a conversation with Major General David Gardner, commander of the 101st Airborne Division, when the moderator opened the floor for questions.
An individual who identified themself as Sergeant Major Anderson asked Trump if he were to wager on the Army-Navy football game, which team would he put his money on.
“You know David, I think you should dock him. That’s a terrible question. He’ll get me in so much trouble,” Trump said with a smile and a laugh.
“I tell you what I will do. I’ll be at the game, and I’m going to let you know right after the game who is going to win,” Trump said. “I’ll be at the game and I’ll be thinking about that wise guy question you just asked me.”
Navy (9-2, 7-1) finished in a tie for first place in the American Conference, while Army (5-5, 3-4) was in fifth place going into Saturday afternoon’s game at Texas-San Antonio. Trump almost mentioned the disparity in records between the archrivals, but caught himself.
“One of those teams is having a spectacular year, and one of them … they’re both doing well. It’s going to be a good game,” he said.
President-elect Trump attended last year’s Army-Navy Game, which was held at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland. He was joined inside a luxury suite by by Vice President-elect JD Vance along with his picks for director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard; secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth; and national security adviser, Mike Waltz.
Elon Musk, who Trump tapped to set up the Department of Government Efficiency, also made an appearance. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — a Trump foe-turned-ally — was also at the game. So was Daniel Penny, a Marine Corps veteran who was acquitted the previous week of homicide after fatally choking a subway rider named Jordan Neely. Penny came at Vance’s invitation.
Trump received a loud ovation from the crowd when he was pictured on the stadium’s video scoreboard while standing and waving to the crowd.
“That’s a place where we get a lot of cheers when we go in. We won the military vote by the largest number ever gotten by a president — by far,” Trump said during Thursday’s event. “I like the military. I like the Navy and I like the Army a lot.”
Last year marked the second time that Trump attended the Army-Navy Game as president-elect. In 2016, he was at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore when Army upset Navy, 21-17, to end its 14-game losing streak in the series.
Trump attended the Army-Navy Game three more times as president, including the 2020 matchup that was held at Michie Stadium in West Point because of the coronavirus pandemic.
In 2019, Trump was at the historic rivalry at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia and visited the locker rooms of both teams to offer encouragement prior to the game.
Joe Biden did not attend the Army-Navy Game during his four-year term as president, although he was on hand in 2012 while serving as vice president.
It is a tradition that dates back to 1901 when President Theodore Roosevelt went to the Army-Navy Game. In a sign of neutrality, he spent the first half on the Army side of Franklin Field in Philadelphia and second half on the Navy side.
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