President Donald Trump will not attend the Super Bowl in California on Sunday, instead likely opting to watch the game from Florida.
The Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots are set to face off this weekend at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. Trump has said the event is “too far away” to attend in person, as he did last year. The president also expressed dissatisfaction over rapper Bad Bunny performing at the half-time show and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Green Day playing in a special ceremony before the game, calling them “a terrible choice” during an interview with the New York Post.
Bad Bunny has opposed Immigration and Customs Enforcement tactics amid controversy over the agency’s operations in Minnesota, including during recent remarks at the Grammys when he said, “We’re not savage, we’re not animals…We are humans, and we are Americans.” The rapper’s call to “ICE out,” as well as plans for the halftime show to be entirely in his native Spanish language, have earned him criticism from Trump and other GOP figures.
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Turning Point USA is holding a competing Super Bowl halftime show for conservatives, headlined by singer Kid Rock, who is a friend of Trump’s and has faced some scrutiny in recent days due to lyrics he wrote in 2001 about liking underage girls. The White House said Thursday that Trump “would much prefer a Kid Rock Performance over Bad Bunny.”
Trump’s move to skip a California trip means he’ll avoid setting foot in a state run by arch-nemesis Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), a likely 2028 presidential contender who has criticized the Trump administration at nearly every turn.
But the president will still have a presence as part of game day events on television. A segment of an NBC interview with Trump in the Oval Office is expected to be aired on Sunday during the pre-game show. And a commercial about the “Trump accounts,” which provides Americans with financial incentives to have children, is also set to air during the pre-game broadcast. The accounts were created in Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” signed into law last year. Children born between 2025 and 2028 are eligible for a one-time $1,000 contribution from the Treasury Department for parents who sign up for the accounts. More than 1 million families have already signed up, according to the White House.
The president attended last year’s Super Bowl featuring the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs in New Orleans, making him the first sitting president to do so.
This year, he is expected to watch the game from his Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, or his Mar-a-Lago home.
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When pressed on who he thinks will win the Super Bowl, Trump deflected but said he was excited about a “great game.”
“I can’t say that. But they are really two good teams,” he said during a Fox News interview. “I think it’s gonna be a great game. There’s a lot of interesting storylines.”
