US President Donald Trump made a high-profile appearance at the NCAA wrestling championships on Saturday night, reinforcing his pattern of sports-focused travels in his new term. Arriving at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia to loud cheers and a standing ovation, Trump pumped his fists as chants of “USA!” filled the arena.

With Penn State aiming for its fourth consecutive team title, Trump stood just off the mat, personally congratulating victorious wrestlers.

“We’re going to the big fight. The reason I’m going is in Philadelphia. They have the NCAA, world, wrestling for college. And I’ve always supported the wrestlers,” Trump told reporters, as per AP, before departing the White House on Friday evening. “I want to support them. These are the great college wrestlers from the various schools.”

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Trump, left, Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., second from left, and Elon Musk, third from right, attend the finals at the NCAA wrestling championship. (AP photo)The president was joined on his trip by billionaire and adviser Elon Musk. Upon arrival in Philadelphia, he was greeted by Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, a former MMA fighter.

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Trump’s own ties to sports

Trump had his days as a football player at the New York Military Academy. In the early 1980s, he owned the New Jersey Generals in the now-defunct United States Football League (USFL) and famously sued the NFL in an unsuccessful attempt to force a merger.

Trump previously attended the NCAA wrestling championships in 2023. (AP photo)As president, he has strategically linked sports with his political brand. He also frequently highlights his executive order banning transgender athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports.

This wasn’t Trump’s first visit to the NCAA wrestling championships. He previously attended in 2023, when the tournament was held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as a candidate for re-election.

What are other sports-appearances that Trump has made?

Since returning to the White House, Trump has made multiple high-profile appearances at major sporting events, attending the Super Bowl in New Orleans and the Daytona 500 in Florida, where his motorcade took a lap around the track.

‘I’ve always supported the wrestlers,’ Trump said before departing for the White House. (AP photo)Before his inauguration, he also attended a UFC fight in New York.

While his recent travels have centered largely on sporting events rather than policy announcements, Trump also made stops in North Carolina to assess hurricane damage and in Los Angeles to visit wildfire-affected areas. In January, he delivered a speech and visited the casino floor at Circa Resort & Casino in Las Vegas before addressing a House Republican policy conference in Florida.

(With inputs from AP)