Trump puts sport at the centre of his 2025 political agenda
In his second term as president, Trump has used both stadiums and policy to fuse sport with politics.
As of October 2025 – 10 months into Trump’s presidency – the U.S. leader has attended 10 major sports events and signed five executive orders related to sports.
No other U.S. president has embedded himself so deeply in sports – from attending live sports events to policymaking – in the service of a broader political strategy.
Play the Game has collected photos of the sports events attended by Donald Trump in 2025, and below are links and descriptions of the five executive orders on sport he has signed since taking office in January 2025.
Events
Policies
February 2025 Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports [Executive Order 14201]
This order bars transgender women and girls from competing in female athletic divisions at the K-12, collegiate, and professional levels if the leagues receive federal funding.
The order is presented as a defense of “fairness” in women’s sports and has enjoyed popular support in opinion polls. However, it has also been widely criticised as discriminatory by civil rights and LGBTQ+ advocates.
March 2025 Establishing the White House Task Force on the FIFA World Cup 2026 [Executive Order]
This order sets up a high-level, interagency group to coordinate the United States’ logistical, security, and diplomatic preparations for both the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup and the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
July 2025: Saving College Sports [Executive Order]
This order establishes a federal framework for NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) deals – the agreements that allow college athletes to profit from their personal brand. Under the new framework, limits are placed on athlete endorsements, and partnerships with foreign entities (such as Chinese companies) are explicitly banned.
While NIL rights were only recently recognised, they have already transformed the landscape of college sports, where athletes previously generated billions in revenue for universities, conferences, and the NCAA without direct compensation.
August 2025 President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition [Executive Order]
This order restores the old Presidential Fitness Test (sit-ups, pull-ups, shuttle runs, etc.) and reconstitutes the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition, which had been dissolved under the previous U.S. president Joseph Biden.
August 2025 Establishing the White House Task Force on the 2028 Summer Olympics [Executive Order]
This order establishes a federal task force to coordinate U.S. preparations for the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
