Trump Says He’s Skipping Super Bowl, Slams ‘Terrible’ Halftime Performer
President Donald Trump confirmed he won’t be attending this year’s Super Bowl, citing both the performers and the game’s location in California as reasons for skipping the event.
In an Oval Office interview with the New York Post, Trump criticized the NFL’s choice of Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny for the halftime show and punk band Green Day for the pregame ceremony. Both acts have publicly attacked Trump and his policies in the past.
“I’m anti-them. I think it’s a terrible choice. All it does is sow hatred. Terrible,” Trump said.
The president also pointed to the game’s distance, saying he’d consider attending if it were being held somewhere closer.
“It’s just too far away. I would. I’ve gotten great hands at the Super Bowl. They like me,” Trump said. “I would go if, you know, it was a little bit shorter.”
Last year, Trump made history as the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl, watching the Eagles defeat the Chiefs in New Orleans. He received a roaring welcome and later called it one of the most patriotic sporting events he had attended.
But Trump has already slammed this year’s entertainment lineup, calling the selection of Bad Bunny “absolutely ridiculous.” During a previous interview with Newsmax’s Greg Kelly, Trump questioned why the NFL would pick someone most Americans don’t even know.
“I never heard of him. I don’t know who he is, I don’t know why they’re doing it. It’s crazy,” Trump said. “Then they blame it on some promoter that they hired to pick the entertainment. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous.”
Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Ocasio, has made headlines for attacking U.S. immigration officials. In a video posted to Instagram, he referred to ICE agents as “motherf*ers” and “sons of b**es,” accusing them of targeting Latino concertgoers.
Ocasio said he intentionally avoided booking tour dates in the United States due to concerns about ICE.
“There was the issue of — like, f***ing ICE could be outside. And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about,” he said in a past interview.
Social media backlash followed the NFL’s announcement, with many users pointing out that none of Bad Bunny’s music is in English. The rapper responded by telling Americans to “learn Spanish” if they didn’t like it.
Green Day, meanwhile, has also drawn criticism for its anti-American stage performances and anti-Trump rants, including an incident where the band screamed “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA” during a live show.
For Trump, the decision to sit out this year’s Super Bowl sends a clear message: the NFL is alienating everyday Americans who simply want football—not leftist lectures—on game day.