Reports: President Trump planning to attend LSU vs. Alabama game
President Donald Trump could be on the scene in Tuscaloosa on Saturday when No. 2 Alabama hosts No. 1 LSU.
According to Bama Central, the University of Alabama is “making preparations” for the president to attend Saturday’s game at Bryant-Denny Stadium. CNN later added that President Trump is “expected” to be there when the Crimson Tide and Tigers kick off with first place in the SEC West on the line.
The biggest game of the college football season so far will be the latest in a string of visits to sporting events for Trump. He attended Game 5 of the World Series between the Washington Nationals and the Houston Astros in Washington D.C. and was booed when he was shown on the jumbotron. Over the weekend, Trump was at Madison Square Garden in New York City for UFC 244, where he received a mix of cheers and boos from those in attendance.
President Trump has attended a few college football games during his presidency. Trump has twice watched the annual Army-Navy game in person, making the trip to Baltimore for the 2016 game and later to Philadelphia for the 2018 matchup. He participated in the pregame coin toss for last year’s game.
Trump also notably attended the 2017 College Football Playoff title game between Alabama and Georgia in Atlanta. He was on the field at Mercedes Benz Stadium for the singing of the national anthem, watched the first half in a suite and left at halftime. Alabama trailed 13-0 at that point but stormed back to win 26-23 in overtime.
Trump’s presence resulted in increased security in Atlanta that night, as it would with any president, and caused a lengthy, rain-soaked delay for some fans who were waiting to enter the stadium. One gate was shut down for 45 minutes to accommodate the president’s arrival at the stadium, as Yahoo Sports’ Jay Busbee detailed that night:
The Secret Service had locked down all routes around the stadium, and tightly controlled all entrances, as is standard procedure for any president. But that wasn’t much comfort for the fans who waited in lines that stretched for as much as a quarter-mile. Decked in every possible combination of red and black, houndstooth for the ‘Bama fans and bulldog caricatures for the Georgia ones, fans dealt with the delays as best they could: some with blank looks, some with cheers, and some with streams of profanity. None moved the line any faster.
The lesson in all of this: If you’re attending Saturday’s game, you should get there early.
More from Yahoo Sports:
