Donald Trump is no longer just talking about college sports, and he’s making his biggest move yet to control its future. Over the months, the 79-year-old president has taken a noticeably hands-on approach to the chaos surrounding NIL, athlete employment debates, and what he sees as endless litigation threatening the structure of the game. Trump’s recent event shows that he’s not done fixing the situation. 

According to Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger, Donald Trump has been playing a “more involved role in college sports discussions” in the last few weeks. He has organized multiple meetings with college sports stakeholders and formed committees to study the issue, all while urging Congress to pass federal legislation on the SCORE Act, which is a pretty big step. But that active involvement still makes you wonder how far he is willing to go. 

Dellenger shared sports podcaster Josh Pate’s post on his meeting with the president at The Varsity in Rome, Georgia, before a rally in the district previously represented by Marjorie Taylor Greene. Pate teased it on X, saying, “President Trump will join the show Sunday.” This upcoming interview with Pate is just the latest example of Trump’s public engagement with college sports, a continuation of his long-standing support for the amateur model.

Just last July, Donald Trump signed an Executive Order aimed squarely at what he calls “saving college sports.” The order aimed to protect the foundation of college athletics, with specific measures to safeguard scholarships for non-revenue sports and draw a clear line against ‘pay-for-play’ schemes, while still permitting athletes to benefit from legitimate NIL deals.

Donald Trump also directed the Secretary of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board to clarify the employment status of student-athletes. In short, he wants to draw a line between college and pro ball. So why does this matter? College sports support more than 500,000 student-athletes and generate nearly $4 billion annually in scholarships. The President argues that unchecked donor-driven football and basketball payments could siphon resources from the rest of the department and wreck competitive balance. 

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“President Trump has shown more interest in college sports than any other president in recent memory. Perhaps ever,” Jarrod Loadholt of lobbying firm Ice Miller said. 

That’s a bold statement, but it tracks when you look at history. Donald Trump’s history of sports engagement, from securing major international events like the Olympics and World Cup to being the first sitting president at a Super Bowl, provides context for his current focus on the collegiate level, which is an arena he has long favored over professional leagues.

Donald Trump meets Gunner Stockton in Georgia

Donald Trump welcomed Georgia’s quarterback Gunner Stockton at the event on the economy in Rome. The POTUS greeted him on the tarmac alongside Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and former US Sen. Kelly Loeffler. On stage, Trump couldn’t resist, calling the Bulldogs QB “really good,” then pivoting to Georgia legend Herschel Walker. 

“Even Gunner would admit it would be tough to beat the legend of Herschel Walker. Would you agree, Gunner?” Donald Trump asserted. “Gunner is a big star and a really talented quarterback. But I heard, much more importantly, he’s a Trump fan. So he was standing at the plane. And anybody who likes me, I like them. And I heard he’s got a fantastic future.”

Gunner Stockton kept it simple.

“This is a great opportunity, just to meet a president and Donald Trump,” he said. “This is an awesome experience, and I’m just glad to be here.” 

Donald Trump later joked that patting the two on the back felt like hitting steel. It was lighthearted, but it also had a sitting president sharing a stage with a current SEC QB and a Heisman winner in the middle of an election-heavy district. That’s sports, politics, and culture colliding in real time. Whether you see it as leadership or leverage, what’s clear is that the President is trying to shape the future of college sports.