The Army-Navy game is a staple of the college football calendar, an event with few, if any, true peers in American sports culture.
The Black Knights and Midshipmen desperately hope to beat one another — it wouldn’t be a rivalry without those feelings, right? — and over the course of 60 minutes, blood is shed, crushing tackles are made and bones are occasionally broken with the goal of getting some hard-earned bragging rights over the next 12 months. It all ends, though, with a sense of mutual respect between a group of young men who will all eventually leave school to help defend their country.
Such a grand stage often comes with some pretty notable visitors – including even the leader of the free world.
The President of the United States has been a fan and spectator at Army-Navy games for much of the rivalry’s history, going all the way back to Theodore Roosevelt in 1901.
This year, that tradition will continue, with President Donald Trump expected to be in attendance for the meeting between the Black Knights and Midshipmen on Saturday, Dec. 13.
Here’s what you need to know about Trump’s upcoming visit to one of college football’s most historic rivalries:
Will Donald Trump be at the Army-Navy game?
Yes, Donald Trump will be in attendance for the Army-Navy game on Saturday, Dec. 13.
Trump confirmed he would be at the game on a call with service members on Thanksgiving. He was asked on the call whether he’d wager on Army or Navy in the annual matchup.
"That's a terrible question. He'll get me in so much trouble," Trump said, jokingly. "I'll be at the game.”
It will be the sixth time Trump has attended the game as either the president or president-elect. His previous visits occurred in 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2024.
Since 1901, 10 sitting U.S. presidents have attended the Army-Navy game. Four of the past five presidents have been to the game at least once while in office. The lone exception was Joe Biden, who did the ceremonial pregame coin toss in 2012 while vice president, but never attended in his one term in the Oval Office.
In 2016, about a month after he was elected to his first term, Trump somewhat famously said in an interview with CBS’s Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson that he didn’t know if the Army-Navy game was “necessarily the best football.”
“I just love the armed forces,” Trump said. “Love the folks. The spirit is so incredible. I mean, I don’t know if it’s necessarily the best football, but it’s very good. But, boy, do they have a spirit. More than anybody. It’s beautiful.”
How many times has Donald Trump been to the Army-Navy game?
Saturday’s visit to the Army-Navy game will be his sixth since 2016. He attended the game as the president-elect in 2016 and 2024 and then as the president in 2018, 2019, 2020 and, now, 2025.
Trump has been a fixture at major sporting events in his decade as a politician and candidate, from college football games to UFC bouts to NASCAR races. Last month, he became the first sitting U.S. president since Jimmy Carter in 1978 to attend a regular-season NFL game.
Where is the Army-Navy game?
The 2025 edition of the Army-Navy game will be played in Baltimore at M&T Bank Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens.
The location, and Trump's presence there, is notable.
In September, Trump had floated the possibility of sending the National Guard into Baltimore, which he described as “a hellhole.”
"We have a right to do it because I have an obligation to do it to protect this country, and that includes Baltimore,” Trump said.
Baltimore mayor Brandon Scott pushed back, citing declining violent crime rates in the city, and Maryland governor Wes Moore described the National Guard serving the role of city police as "theatrical and not sustainable” while also inviting Trump for a public safety walk around Baltimore at a date and time of his choosing.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why is Donald Trump at the Army-Navy football game?