Trump heads to New Orleans as first sitting president to attend Super Bowl | Super Bowl

Donald Trump is due to give himself a term report on his contentious first three weeks in office at tonight’s Super Bowl while becoming the first sitting president to attend the NFL’s title game between the Philadelphia Eagles and two-time defending championship winning Kansas City Chiefs.

The US president was expected to arrive at the Caesars Superdome where the game will be held in New Orleans at 3.50pm, according to the White House, and appear on the field about 4pm when he will be joined by House speaker Mike Johnson and New Orleans Saints owner Gayle Benson.

Trump arrives in New Orleans as the NFL replaced “End Racism” with “Choose Love” written into the end zone. The inscription had been in place since the racial justice protests that followed the 2020 murder of George Floyd by a white police officer.

Trump had campaigned against NFL players “taking the knee” before kick-off in a symbolic gesture against to racism, a practice that has been discontinued.

Alvin Tillery, a politics professor and diversity expert at Northwestern University, told the Associated Press that the NFL’s decision to remove “End Racism” slogans was “shameful” given that the league “makes tens of billions of dollars largely on the bodies of Black men”. Tillery said the league should explain who it was aiming to please.

In a statement before heading to New Orleans from his home in Florida, Trump said he was looking forward to joining fans for a sense of national unity and patriotism.

“The coaches, players, and team staff on the field tonight represent the best of the best in professional football, but they also embody the best of the American dream,” he said.

Trump also noted the 14 deaths and 35 injuries from the truck attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day: “We remember that 14 families will be missing a loved one who was tragically murdered during a senseless terrorist attack while celebrating the New Year on Bourbon Street.”

A White House official said Trump will meet with family members of the attack who will be honorary coin toss participants just before the big game.

Trump added that the game was an annual opportunity to transcend differences, saying that the Chiefs and Eagles’ coaches, players and staff “represent the hopes and dreams of our Nation’s young athletes as we restore safety and fairness in sports and equal opportunities among their teams”.

Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce told reporters it is “pretty cool” that Trump would attend the game on Sunday, but it is not known how pop star Taylor Swift, also attending the game, may interpret her beau’s endorsement.

Trump battled Swift’s perceived Democratic leanings throughout the 2024 presidential campaign. Two months before the vote, Swift said she planned to vote for Kamala Harris “because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them”.

Trump retorted with: “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” in a post on his Truth Social platform.