Donald Trump has taken his seat at the 125th edition of the Army-Navy game.
The president-elect was seen with his running mate, Marine Corps veteran JD Vance, and Senator-elect Dave McCormick (Republican-Pennsylvania) in a suite, where he is also expected to be joined by embattled Pentagon pick Pete Hegseth , a potential president. backup defense option Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and others for the 125th inter-service academies game.
Trump waved to adoring fans, many of whom represented the US Naval Academy in Annapolis or the US Military Academy at West Point.
Also planning to attend is Daniel Penny, a military veteran who was acquitted this week of negligent homicide in the chokehold of an agitated New York subway rider. Penny was invited by Vance, who accused prosecutors of trying to “ruin” Penny’s life by charging the Marine veteran in the 2023 death of Jordan Neely.
Army (11-1) is ranked 19th in the Associated Press Top 25 after beating Tulane on Dec. 6 and winning the American Athletic Conference – the first league title of any kind in the 134-year history of the team. Navy (8-3) rose to the top of the rankings earlier this season after starting with six straight wins. Kickoff is after 3:00 PM EST at Northwest Stadium, home of the NFL’s Washington Commanders, in Landover, Maryland.
Trump, who attended the Army and Navy games as president-elect in 2016 and as POTUS in 2019, has made an increasing number of public appearances ahead of his inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025. He was joined by his family and Vance on Thursday as he rang the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange after being recognized as Time Magazine’s Person of the Year.
Donald Trump, JD Vance and Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth are seen from left to right
Vice President-elect JD Vance (left) and Defense Secretary-designate Pete Hegseth (right)
(From left to right)) National Intelligence Director candidate, former US Representative Tulsi Gabbard, US President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance
Trump is looking forward to Northwest Stadium, home of the Commanders, in Landover, Maryland
He has also made a habit of attending college football games such as the 2018 and 2020 College Football Playoff National Championships, as well as rivalry games between Georgia and Alabama, Iowa and Iowa State, as well as Clemson and South Carolina during the 2024 campaign.
One person who doesn’t plan to attend: President Joe Biden.
Remarkably, Biden has never attended an Army-Navy game during his presidency — and now the president is getting some criticism from Trump supporters.
‘Why wasn’t Joe Biden at an Army Navy football game?’ asked a Trump supporter on X ahead of Saturday’s rivalry game.
Biden’s absence is particularly notable this season because the game will be played in nearby Landover, Maryland, where the NFL’s Washington Commanders play their home games.
“Come on!” one X user wrote about 82-year-old Biden. “You expect him to stay awake for three hours?”
Another suggested that Biden “doesn’t want to be booed.”
And it’s not just Republicans. A Democrat and avowed supporter of the president admitted that he will “never understand why Biden didn’t go to the Army/Navy game last year and why he’s not going this year.”