Trump To Attend Commanders-Lions Game, Honor Veterans During Halftime Celebration

President Trump will attend the Washington Commanders game Sunday when they host the Detroit Lions, sports commentator Pat McAfee revealed on Friday.

“He will be excited to celebrate the hell out of the greatest sport on earth, American football, so that’s breaking news,” McAfee said while hosting his ESPN show from an empty football tunnel in Lubbock, Texas. The official White House X account reposted McAfee’s announcement with the eyeball emojis, which we can only assume means one thing — the Commander in Chief will be at the Commanders’ game.

We have some BREAKING NEWS..

Source(s) are telling me that President Donald Trump will be attending the Commanders and Lions game on Sunday #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/sL6OaPQIfd

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) November 7, 2025

McAfee, in his enthusiastic voice and a cowboy hat, said the president is going to the NFL game for the Veterans Day celebration at halftime. Trump will sit with Commanders’ owner Josh Harris in his suite. The halftime celebration includes a salute to TAPS Families along with a performance from the Commanders Marching Band, according to the team.

Sunday’s game is the first NFL game of the season for Trump. Earlier this year, he made history as the first sitting president to attend the Super Bowl. During his first term as president, Trump went to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in 2019 to watch the Crimson Tide take on LSU, who would go on to win the national championship that year.

Before that season, he attended the 2018 National Championship game in Atlanta between Alabama and Georgia. He’s attended other college games, most recently last football season, weeks before his re-election, when he traveled to Alabama again to watch the Crimson Tide play Georgia.

Trump is a football fan. What he is not a fan of is the NFL’s new kickoff rule, where no players can move until the ball hits the ground or touches the returner. Trump called it “sissy football” and “ridiculous.”

The “Tush Push,” a controversial play where players push the quarterback forward from behind, has Trump’s full backing.

The Lions, who travel to the nation’s capital for Sunday’s game, are coached by Dan Campbell, who many agree is the toughest coach in the NFL. However, “The Pat McAfee Show” hosts joked that Campbell could only be intimidated by one person: President Trump.

“He might have two tins in his mouth at one time just to kinda go through the anxiety,” McAfee said, referring to the chewing tobacco that Campbell has been known to use during games.

The Lions (5-3) are the favorites heading into Sunday afternoon’s contest, but are coming off a loss to the Minnesota Vikings in a game in which the Lions’ offense struggled to move the ball. The Commanders are 3-6 on the year. Washington’s franchise quarterback, Jayden Daniels, is out for the foreseeable future after suffering an elbow injury last week against Seattle. Backup quarterback Marcus Mariota will get the nod against Detroit in what seems to be a must-win for Washington to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Sunday’s game kicks off at 4:25 p.m. EST.