President Donald Trump's presence at sporting events has become a notable trend, with home teams frequently losing when he attends. The New York Knicks, after two straight wins in the finals against the San Antonio Spurs, fell 115-111 at home on Monday night as Trump watched from a luxury suite at Madison Square Garden. This pattern extends back to his first term, when the Washington Nationals lost Game 5 of the World Series to the Houston Astros 7-1 while Trump was in attendance.
In November, the NFL's Washington Commanders hosted the Detroit Lions with Trump on hand, and the visitors won 44-22. At Bethpage Black, Europe topped the U.S. golf team in the Ryder Cup with Trump front and center. This irony is stark for a president obsessed with winning, often boasting of election victories and endorsing successful Republican primary candidates. His love of sports sometimes leads him into hostile territory, like heavily Democratic Manhattan, where he was booed before Game 3's tipoff.
However, Trump's attendance doesn't always spell defeat. Last September, the New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers 9-3 as Trump marked the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. He also saw Navy beat Army 17-16 in Baltimore, where Navy was technically the home team. He's attended events without home field advantage, such as the U.S. Open, the 2025 Super Bowl where the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Kansas City Chiefs, the Daytona 500, the NCAA wrestling championships, and the FIFA Club World Cup final. On Sunday, the White House will host a UFC show for Trump's 80th birthday.
If the trend holds, it may not bode well for the U.S. national team in the World Cup, which opens Thursday. The Americans have never reached the semifinals, and Trump has played a role in organizing the event, pledging to attend the final and award the trophy. Knicks fans have faulted Trump for the Game 3 loss, even though their team still leads the series. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a likely 2028 Democratic candidate, reposted a White House post on X declaring 'Call it the Trump effect' alongside discussion of the Knicks' loss. ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith suggested before Game 3 that it would be Trump's fault if the Knicks didn't win, and afterward said, 'What I feared would happen ended up happening.' Smith added, 'The president disrupted our mojo.'
When asked about Smith blaming him, Trump dismissed the commentator's political aspirations and questioned his intelligence, saying, 'You need a high IQ. I'm not sure that Stephen has that.' Despite frequent booing, Trump continues to attend games. A native of Queens, he often sat courtside at Knicks games before politics. His return to the Garden drew loud boos when his face appeared on the jumbotron during the national anthem. He has been booed at the Nationals' World Series game, the Commanders game, and the U.S. Open. At some events, he is cheered, and the reaction can be mixed, though Trump often claims a friendlier reception than he gets. After the Knicks game, he suggested the boos were 'mostly cheers.' The White House posted a photo of Trump with the caption 'King of New York,' while the New York Daily News featured a cartoon of a rotund Trump in a No. 38 Knicks jersey with a bubble saying 'approval rating.'
