“I think I’ll be going to one of the games,” Donald Trump said to reporters at the White House on Wednesday. Kent Nisimura / AFP via Getty Images
May 27, 2026 Updated 3:18 pm EDT
President Donald Trump said he plans to attend an NBA Finals game at Madison Square Garden.
“I think I’ll be going to one of the games,” Trump said to reporters at the White House on Wednesday. The president added that he had been invited by “numerous people,” including James Dolan, the owner of the New York Knicks and CEO of Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp.
“We don’t know if President Trump is coming to the finals, but the president of the United States — no matter who is in office — is always welcome at all our venues,” an MSG spokesperson said in a statement. Dolan has donated to Trump’s campaigns in the past.
Trump said he had planned to attend what would have been Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals on Wednesday, before the Knicks swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in four games. Now, the Knicks are heading to their first finals since 1999 and will play either the San Antonio Spurs or the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Trump’s appearance would be a rare move for other sitting presidents, but he has made a habit of attending major sporting events during his second term, including the college football national championship and a New York Yankees game on Sept. 11. He also attended the U.S. Open men’s singles final last year.
He has been a presence on the New York sports stage in recent days. Last week, New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart introduced Trump at a rally in New York, saying, “What an honor, what a privilege it is to be here.” The appearance led linebacker Abdul Carter to question Dart on social media, though he later said that he and Dart “are good.”
No NBA champion has visited the White House during Trump’s time in office. Last year’s champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder, cited a “timing issue” as the reason for being unable to visit. In an anonymous player poll conducted by The Athletic in April, NBA players were split on whether they would accept an invitation to the White House if they won the championship, with 53.4 percent (63 players) saying they would go and 46.6 percent (55 players) saying they would not.
May 27, 2026
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