WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump hosted the Navy football team at the White House on Friday for the Commander-in-Chief Trophy presentation, and took action to protect the time-honored Army-Navy football game’s time slot.
At the end of the ceremony, the president signed an executive order to ensure no other college football games are played at the time of the Army-Navy game on the second Saturday in December.
Trump noted that the time slot traditionally reserved for the game has been increasingly encroached upon due to the expansion of the college football playoff.
“Nobody’s going to play football for four hours during that very special time of the year in December; it’s preserved forever for the Army–Navy game,” he said. “Now, if you don’t want to watch football, you don’t have to, but if you want to watch football, you’re only watching one game.”
Trump predicted the order would draw a legal challenge, but added he thinks the administration would win such a lawsuit.
Friday marked the second consecutive year that the Navy Midshipmen descended on the White House for the Commander-in-Chief trophy presentation. The trophy is awarded to the service academy that tallies the best record against the other service academies in a particular season.
“For the second year in a row, it’s my great honor to officially present the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy to the one and only Navy Midshipmen football team with 11 wins and 2 losses playing the best teams in football,” Trump said.
“I used to always think of the military services, they played like a little step below. It’s not true. They play the big teams, and they beat them,” he said, adding that the 2025 iteration of the Navy Midshipmen delivered “one of the most impressive seasons in Navy football history.”
Trump shouted out Quarterback Blake Horvath, Wide Receiver Eli Heidenreich, Wide Receiver Brandon Chatman, and Defensive Tackle Landon Robinson.
Trump noted that Heidenreich broke a slew of receiving records at the academy and cemented “himself as, without a doubt, the greatest wide receiver in Navy history.”
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