On January 20, 1985, Ronald Reagan had just been sworn in for his second term as US president when he remotely performed the traditional pre-game Super Bowl coin toss from the Oval Office to determine which half of the field the teams would play on. In the 1990s, during the Bill Clinton era, viewing parties were organized at the White House to watch the final of the American football championship.

If the NFL season’s finale is the highlight of America’s sporting calendar, it is also a high point for the media – over 123 million people watched it in 2024, a record for US television since the Apollo moon landing on July 21, 1969. This has not escaped the attention of successive heads of state.

In 2004, George W. Bush launched a new tradition: The president now grants a pre-meeting interview to the event’s official broadcaster. While Barack Obama upheld it, his successors – Donald Trump and later Joe Biden – proved less assiduous.

Back in the Oval Office since January 20, the leader of the MAGA (“Make America Great Again”) movement is about to return to this tradition: He granted an interview to Fox News that will air on Sunday, February 9, before the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles.

Most importantly, the 47^th US president is expected in the lounges of the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. It will be the first time a sitting president attends the Super Bowl since its inception in 1966.

Eagles dis-invited by the White House

This announcement was as unexpected as it was surprising. Indeed, while Trump is described on the NFL’s Pro Football Hall of Fame website as an “avid fan” of American football, his relationship with the league is delicate, to say the least. His repeated failures since the 1980s to acquire a franchise have fueled his resentment.

And there was the showdown over the national anthem during his first term in office. Following the example set by San Francisco 49er Colin Kaepernick, multiple players knelt during the national anthem to protest against racism and police violence.

“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired’,” Trump said during a trip to Alabama in September 2017.

The following year, he canceled the reception for the Super Bowl-winning Philadelphia Eagles at the White House. The official reason? Some of the team’s lack of patriotism. In truth, most of the team had made it clear that they had no intention of honoring the invitation.

Asked what it meant to them to play in front of the president on Sunday, the players of the Pennsylvania franchise shrugged it off, preferring to insist on the need to stay focused on the field. “Ask him who he’s pulling for?” said Lane Johnson, one of the four 2018 champions still in the squad, with a hint of irony.

Offensive against diversity programs

While Trump brushed the question aside, there’s little doubt about the answer. Tavia Hunt, wife of Chiefs owner Clark Hunt, has supported the Republican tycoon on social media in the past, as has Harrison Butker, one of the players of the Missouri club.

In addition, on his network Truth Social, the president has repeatedly praised Brittany Mahomes, the “beautiful and BRILLIANT” wife of Kansas City Chief’s “GREAT” quarterback Patrick Mahomes, whose support he is convinced of after she liked one of his Instagram posts – a like she later took back.

On the other hand, Trump “hates” the girlfriend of Travis Kelce, the Chiefs’ other star player: Taylor Swift. The pop star, one of the most influential celebrities in the US, publicly sided with Democrat Kamala Harris in the November 2024 presidential election.

His presence will be closely watched in New Orleans on Sunday, as will that of Kendrick Lamar, who will perform during the half-time show. The 37-year-old Californian rapper, known for his socially conscious lyrics and condemnation of inequality – and who was a vocal critic of Trump during his first term in office – promised to offer “storytelling” that would “make people […] think a little.”

In addition, for the first time since 2021, the words “End Racism” will not be displayed in the end zones during the Super Bowl. Instead, the NFL decided to stencil the messages “Choose Love” and “It Takes All of Us.” This decision caused some discontent, as the president signed an executive order directing federal agencies to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs, while inviting private companies to do the same.

The league insisted that this had nothing to do with the country’s political climate. According to one of its spokespersons, the goal is to highlight the recent tragedies that have struck the country, including the truck attack in New Orleans that killed 14 people in early January, the Los Angeles fires and the deadly collision between an airliner and a helicopter in Washington DC.

“We got into diversity efforts because we felt it was the right thing for the National Football League,” NFL head Roger Goodell was keen to point out on February 4, before adding, “and we’re going to continue those efforts.” His way of saying that the league should not follow the recommendations of the Trump administration.