As many of you know, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a federal holiday, and many people have it off from work. That includes most of us at The American Spectator. While that included me for the most part, I can’t say the same about my night. There’s a three-word explanation for that: Donald J. Trump.
Trump began his public-facing activities for the day by attending the CFP National Championship Game at Hard Rock Stadium between the Miami Hurricanes and the Indiana Hoosiers in Miami. Fans were reportedly advised to prepare for additional security measures, including screening by Secret Service agents.
After arriving at the stadium at 7:18 p.m., Trump held court with family members and friends such as UFC CEO Dana White. Also spotted were cabinet secretaries (and one-time presidential primary rivals) Marco Rubio and Doug Burgum, as well as members of the Indiana congressional delegation. The latter were likely pleased by the evening, as the Hoosiers won 27-21, keeping their 16-0 win-to-loss ratio for the season intact.
Trump left the stadium at 10:47 p.m., before the end of the 4th quarter. Upon his return to North Perry Airport, he fielded questions from the press for several minutes on the Nobel Prize, Greenland, and his new peace board. The president then departed via Air Force One to return to the White House. To those of us in the D.C. press pool waiting in the cold for his return, what was already a late night turned into a later one.
Why did Trump attend? Aside from the obvious reason that he just likes college football, there are others to consider. First, the president’s status as a cultural figure was a large part of how he assembled the coalition that returned him to power one year ago. That Trump is the kind of person who will attend college football games makes him more relatable.
Second, there’s the sharp contrast between Trump’s relentless schedule and that of his predecessor. During the 2024 election, Trump outworked both then-President Joe Biden and the eventual Democratic nominee, then-Vice President Kamala Harris. Regardless of what you think of his answers, the fact that he was willing and able to field questions from the press at 11 p.m. on a federal holiday is remarkable.
It was not until 1:50 a.m. that the D.C. contingent of the media was called to assemble in front of the Rose Garden. Even for me, a hale and healthy 27-year-old man, that’s not nothing. For the 79-year-old leader of the free world, that he had the energy to do any of this is remarkable. It’s certainly a major shake-up from the days of morning “lids” under President Biden.
After Marine One landed just after 2 a.m., the president walked back into the White House. For reasons unknown, he did not seem inclined to stop in the 20-degree weather to answer my questions. It really hurt my feelings: I’m not sure what I did to offend him. Maybe he just doesn’t like me. Or perhaps he was just tired after a long day, to say nothing of a long year as the once again president of the United States. Difficult to say.
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